A/N: Oneshot written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, round 2

Assigned prompt: Write about a character whose deceit or intent to harm ends positively for the recipient/s.

Extra restriction: You can not write about any character that was in Harry's year at Hogwarts or below/younger.

Optional prompts:

1. (word) ancient

11. (spell) Levicorpus

13. (setting) the Forbidden Forest

Turning Point

...

He felt old. Ancient.

His body was young, in the middle of the transformation from boy to man. Yet his mind and soul had endured too much to retain any semblance of the innocence that one would associate with youth.

There had been one pivotal moment in his life when everything had shattered, his final illusions dispelled as reality had sunk its claws into his mind and tore him apart. He had finally understood - who he was, and more importantly, who he was not.

Trapped by his own spell, he had been helpless. He could still feel the blood rushing into his head as he hung upside down in the iron claws of the Levicorpus which had been cast on him by his worst enemy.

As he had hung there, upside down in the air, exposed and ridiculed in front of the entire school, he had thought that the moment could not get any worse. But then she had to come along. Lily Evans.

She had been his best friend since childhood, and in his mind, they had still been the closest friends at Hogwarts. He had been madly in love with her, but he knew he did not stand a chance and so kept those feelings to himself.

To have her see him helpless and overpowered, with his faded underwear exposed by James Potter, who cackled, delighted with himself, as the entire school watched - that had been his worst nightmare.

But then, it had gotten even worse.

She had gone straight to Potter, making him release the spell while chiding him. Scolding him in such an unperturbed manner as if he had merely spilled juice on Severus, and not the heinous act and complete humiliation that had taken place. Four on one, no less.

As he had lain in a heap on the grass, hearing those empty words fall from her lips, it had been clear to him, right then, that she had not really meant the reprimand, that she had done it because it was what ought to be done, because she had felt it had been expected of her.

In truth, she had always been drawn to Potter. She fancied him; it was so clear to him now. He had tried to deny that truth for so long, too long, but at this moment in time, he couldn't, not when it happened right in front of his eyes.

He was no longer as important to her as she was to him. Appealing to Potter meant far more than the friendship they shared. He wondered if she ever asked herself how she had stooped so low.

It had been in that moment that a white-hot fury had overwhelmed him, and his only intent had been to hurt her, to cause her the same pain that she had caused him.

The moment that word had left his mouth, he had known he had sealed his fate. The look in her eyes had told him that he had hurt her, but even so, she was grateful for an excuse to finally drop him.

He had never fit in with her other friends, and she had found more and more excuses not to spend time with him. She had blamed her behavior on his association with a group of Slytherins he had befriended, but deep down he had known that this had only been part of the reason, a convenient excuse for her to turn away from him.

The moment the word 'Mudblood' had been out in the open, she had cut him out of her life cleanly. Severely.

For three days, he had been in a stupor of shock, misery and hurt. It had felt as though a part of him was missing, as if he could not breathe without her. He had even stooped so low as to sleep in front of her common room, just to be able to speak with her for a minute and apologize, but she had not even given him a chance.

In the end, he had been grateful for that. It was bad enough he had lost it that badly, but even more so when he was finally able to look at the facts in the light of day. It had helped him to see things as they were.

Everything he had admired about her - her goodness, her affection, her caring nature, her light-hearted humor… it was all gone. The last month of puberty had taken away so much of the sweet girl he had known; what remained was a beautiful, but rather empty shell.

Everything that had made him love her had morphed and twisted, changed its nature; although that eternal love still had its claws buried deep inside his heart, he found that now, he was able to breathe more freely, to think more clearly, to finally come to his senses and be himself, to be who he wanted to be and not try to be the man he presumed that she wanted.

He had changed. And whenever he looked at his classmates with their ridiculous behavior and raging hormones, he felt old. Ancient.

He had nothing in common with them anymore. He was a new person. And although he felt removed, it did not bother him. For once, he felt better about who he was than he had in a long time.

That new awareness was comforting, but there was still a deep rage gnawing at his bones. Her duplicity, her hypocrisy, it burned in his stomach like acid. A part of him wanted her to hurt as much as he had.

No, he wanted her to see herself for what she was, for what she had become – that empty shell that no longer resembled the girl worth his heart.

As he lay in bed that night, an idea came to him. He was in possession of a vial of Sagacitas potion, which allowed the drinker to see the true nature of the people they looked at. He had brewed it himself the year before, when he had first observed the changes in Lily's personality. He had known that his love for her had warped his perception, that he could not trust himself to see the truth for himself. Yet, he had not been able to take it for fear of what he might see. But he did not need it anymore.

Now, he thought, it was her that needed a clear view for a change. He would slip her the potion when she was with Potter and then she would have no choice but to face the truth, to see what a monster her beloved James was, and how shallow the friends she surrounded herself with actually were. Her world would crash and burn around her – this truth she would be unable to deny.

A week later, he was able to seize his chance. Potter and his gang of idiots had prepared a picnic at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, all in the hopes of impressing Lily and her army of airheaded friends. The food, which they had pilfered from the Hogwarts kitchens, was spread out on a blanket, the group of teenagers sat picking the best bits off the little buffet. They never noticed Severus as he hid in the shadows. All he needed was a small levitating charm, just at the right moment. It had been too easy to slip the potion into Lily's cup. Now, he just had to sit back and wait.

A couple of minutes after she had indulged in the spiked butterbeer, she gave a strangled cry. He heard the murmur of voices from his hiding place, but could not make out any words. He heard Lily's voice above the rest. It was filled with horror, but again he caught only little snippets of what she was saying.

He glimpsed around the giant oak trunk to see Lily retreating from her friends. Tears spilled down her face as she held up her hands as if to push them all away. Then she pulled something out of her pocket; as she held it up, it glinted in the light. It was a mirror.

She took one long, silent look into it and a whimper escaped her throat. She threw it to the ground with a wail and spun around, taking off at a run.

Unfortunately, this took her directly to where he was standing. He ducked behind the low hanging branches as she broke through the dark green barrier of foliage, venturing into the Forbidden Forest and away from the world outside.

After a few steps she faltered, and sobbing, sank to her knees.

Severus watched her trembling shoulders and waited for some form of satisfaction to set in. But it didn't come; instead he felt pity. She was lost, just as he had been before something inside of him had shifted.

He decided to slip away, uncomfortable about watching her degradation any longer.

A dry leaf had crunched under his foot as he tried to step back quietly. She whipped her head around, her green eyes locking onto his.

He met her gaze with empathy but no warmth, giving her only a small nod of acknowledgement before turning away.

"Severus!" she called out. "Wait, please wait!"

He stopped and turned around. She had stepped in front of him, her chest heaving and her eyes widening as she truly looked at him for the first time since imbibing the potion.

He saw completely different emotions in her eyes now - shock, confusion, and surprise were the first, but soon they were overtaken by emotions that confused him so much that he wondered if he might be reading her incorrectly. Why ever would she look at him with such awe and admiration?

"Oh my God!" she whispered, her eyes drinking in the lines on his face. "I never knew, I never saw it before. How could I not?" She shook her head in confusion. "When I saw you with that group of Slytherins, I just assumed and never asked, I never took the time to find out more, to find out what your motivations were. Only now do I see the complex man behind the façade. I was so wrong about you."

Squeezing her eyes shut as if in pain, she continued. "And I was wrong about my friends. They are all so … naïve, so shallow, and mean. Why did I ever want to impress them? Being popular was all I cared about. What have I become? I used to be so different…"

Her voice broke and she bit her lip. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself. "I don't want to be like that anymore. I want to be better, to be someone more like… you."

She stepped closer, hesitantly raising her hand and placing it on his shoulder. Tilting her head up to look into his eyes, she whispered: "Do you think you might ever be able to forgive me? Maybe even consider giving me another chance?"

His breath caught in his throat at her words, and he did not know how to reply. This scenario had never even entered his mind. He did not know how he felt about her request. A part of him screamed to say yes, yes of course, while another part, his newly found, confident part, advised him to sleep on it before making any promises.

He was still contemplating when she raised herself on her toes, slipped her hand behind his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Her soft lips met his, and he felt a spark of something, urging him to respond. Although he had told himself not to, he couldn't help it. He had dreamed of this for so long that it seemed absurd not to take the chance when it had been offered to him so freely.

His arms slid around her waist, drawing her closer, and she sighed happily into his mouth. Finally, and very unexpectedly, he found himself in that one daydream that he had pursued for years. A raw wound inside of him was soothed, and as his lips moved over hers, more confident than before, he knew that the last irrational claws of his love for her had fallen away, making room for a different feeling, a new awareness. There was still a deep attraction and a healthy interest in her, but the painful longing that had always made his chest constrict had disappeared. He could finally meet her on equal terms, not mooning over her from afar, not sticking her up on a pedestal, but as equals.

Slowly ending their kiss, he drew back and finally spoke to her for the first time.

"Lily, so much has happened in such a short time. I can't make any promises just now, not in the heat of the moment, I hope you can understand that."

Hurt flashed in her eyes, but it did nothing to change his resolve.

"That doesn't mean that I don't want to be with you, it's just that it would be a rash decision, there is still so much to talk about. Also, you are still under influence of the Sagacitas potion."

At her bewildered look, he explained what he had done and how the potion affected the person who had taken it. "I am sorry, Lily. My intent was to cause you harm, and it was petty. I do not expect you to forgive me."

"I don't need to forgive you, Severus! No harm was caused, just the opposite, I would say. Finally I was able to see the truth about myself, about my so-called friends, and I truly am thankful for that. I do want to turn my life around. Please don't feel bad about this!"

Giving him a hopeful look from under her red curtain of hair, she added. "And I don't think my feelings will wane along with the effects of the potion. It was the realization I needed, not the effects of the potion itself. The realization will stay."

He could only hope that this was true, but he did not want to take any chances. He needed to know for sure.

"And if that is the case, then please come see me. But not before. I don't want there to be any room for doubt."

She gave a reluctant nod and a half smile. "Tomorrow afternoon, the effects should have worn off, don't you think? So if I were to walk along the edge of the Forbidden Forest around four o'clock, might you be able to meet me there?"

He gave a small smirk. "I might."

With that, he turned on his heel and strode off towards the castle. Lily put a hand on the trunk of a nearby oak to steady herself as she watched him walk away with a thundering heart. He was magnificent. Never had she met a boy – no, a man – like him. He was the one she wanted. She couldn't wait for tomorrow.

The next day, 3:45pm

Lily skipped out of the doors of the Great Hall, turning her face up towards the sun, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply.

"Hey beautiful!" she heard James say.

She opened her eyes to look at him.

Nothing.

A day before, her heart had skipped in her chest at the sight of him; now she was only annoyed he was blocking her way. She gave him a tight smile.

"James," she said with a short nod of acknowledgment before giving him a wide berth on her way towards the gate, a gate that would lead her to the Forbidden Forest.

With the thought of Severus waiting for her, her heart finally gave the leap she had been waiting for.

The End

A/N: Yes, I know I was harsh on Lily. To me, the way she behaved after the Mudblood incident in the HP series was (in my eyes) something no true friend would have done. So to me, that never fit in with how she was portrayed everywhere else, which is why I changed her character so much in the beginning of this story - it was the only way for me to be able to explain the Mudblood incident and still have her be a nice person in the end.