A/N: Hello, this is my first multi-chapter fanfic and I hope you enjoy it! The drama is based around the time James, Lily and Severus left Hogwarts and James and Lily joined the Order. I will accept that I may be wrong in details at places but hopefully what I lack in my astute observational skills, I make up for in my plot. I may or may not stick to cannon.

Disclaimer: Owns nothing.

Please Review, criticism always appreciated!

Prologue: The Beginning

Lily looked as dishevelled as she felt. Her hair stuck to her scalp and fell wildly around her head, enclosing her face in a blaze. She drew her wand out and knocked on the door cursorily at first and when no movement came from within, she knocked harder. She stood in front of a dull brick house that looked like it enclosed nothing out of ordinary, and probably it didn't. The Spinner's End always smelt of dirt and grime, even when it was winter and snowing.

Lily couldn't believe fate had led her to this and moreover, she couldn't believe that of all people she could have had to beg before, it had to be Severus Snape. The man she had cut all ties with, the man who made Lily question herself every time she looked at him, because she couldn't help but feel that her love could have saved him perhaps. Love, she thought, is the most misimagined thing in the world. It extends so deep, and wields so much strength to uproot you over that she couldn't understand why people would want it.

The door opened jarringly and Severus opened it just an inch before he saw who it was and stopped. He couldn't go on. Lily. The green eyes enveloped his childhood in the most unpretentious way. He couldn't help but feel his skin crawl at the realization how far he had come, or rather how deep he had sunk.

Lily felt nothing because she saw nothing of Sev in him. She half-expected him to bang the door in her face but he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her inside and closed the door behind him. He left her as unexpectedly as he had grabbed her and with a flick of wand drew the blinds and switched on the lights. Making his way toward the kitchen, he beckoned her to follow him.

As Lily began to speak, he turned and placed a finger over his lip. Say nothing, he mouthed. Lily didn't bother to remover her coat; she wasn't planning to stay for long.

As they entered the kitchen, he closed the kitchen door too and pointed her to sit at the table. Putting the water to boil, he turned to her and for the second time in the evening, looked directly at her and spoke for the first time.

'Why are you here, after all this time?'

Lily wasn't surprised at the venom his words possessed but she couldn't let her pride beat her senses, instead she would let herself be beaten over.

'I ne-need your help, Severus', she spoke unsurely.

She didn't call him Sev anymore, he realized, 'Who sent you to me? I can't help you with anything'

'Yes, you can. I need you to help me break into Azkaban. You don't even have to come with me; just tell me how to break into Azkaban. Don't deny you don't know how to do it because I know you orchestrated the mass breakout of your friends', she spat,' two weeks ago and you were the person who came up with plan to make it happen. So, tell me.'

'Who sent you to me?' he repeated. His voice was cold and his eyes frozen, Severus never gave anything away, like his expressions and emotions weren't tethered together.

'Dumbledore did.'

'Who are you planning on saving?' he glared but he knew the answer of course. The incident was all the papers had been reporting and speculating on since last week. Dear Old Head Boy, he thought, not so noble now, are we? Potter boy can't even keep himself away from the spotlight when he's in prison. Disgusting!

'James. Are you gonna help me or not?' she had started shivering, it was July.

'Yes', he said and a smile began to stretch over his handsome face.