Severus ran out of the transfiguration room and bounded down the stairs to the entrance hall

Severus ran out of the transfiguration room and bounded down the stairs to the entrance hall. He saw a bright orange head of hair making its way through the crowd of students, all moving on to their next lesson. The hair was headed towards the great double doors that lead out to the grounds.

He slowed to a jog once he had Lily in his sight. He bobbed and weaved through anonymous Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, Slytherins and Hufflepuffs muttering apologies as he bumped into one student and knocked books out of the arms of another.

When he finally caught up, he placed his arm around her shoulder and spoke in a low, gruff voice, mocking Sirius.

"Hey hot stuff." He walked with a confident gait, as if he were the popular, rich Gryffindor boy. Lily rolled her eyes and held back a smile.

"Stop it! He can see us." Sure enough, Sirius Black was leaning against a tree with the rat-boy Pettigrew and the large-headed ringleader, Potter. Remus Lupin had his nose buried in an OWL review book.

"So what if he can see me? He knows we're just… just friends. And I'm not afraid of him anyway. He's just a drooling moron who can't keep his mind off of himself to save his life. Erm… sorry." He couldn't get over the fact that his best friend was going with that slob.

"Don't make me laugh Sev!" Lily said jokingly. "I'd like to see you beat him in a fight. I mean you're better at him in some aspects. Fighting and getting girls just aren't some of them." Snape's angry expression softened when he saw her laughing.

"I'm really glad we need to talk about girls right now. As if I don't have enough trouble already with Mulciber and Avery 'joking' about my fifteen year running spell of being single." Even he had to laugh at this pathetic truth.

"I sometimes forget that you've never had a girlfriend. Who do you like? Maybe I can help." Lily wouldn't stop asking him this question until she found out who he liked and that was not going to happen anytime soon.

"Yes, you're right. I do fancy someone."

"Who? What house is she in? Is she in our year?"

"Not telling, not telling, and yes she's a fifth year."

"Is she a Slytherin? Or a Ravenclaw? Or a… Gryffindor? If she's a Gryffindor, I can put in a few good words."

"Yes. She's a Gryffindor. She's very brave, and smart, and funny, and…"

"Well… I'll just have to guess won't I?" There was never a time when Lily turned down a guessing game. She could always read his mind like a book.

"No. Let's talk about something else. Oh! I forgot to tell you. I had a dream about you last night. It was weird."

"Oh really?" She sounded intrigued.

"Yeah. We were out sitting by the lake and we were watching the squid. And the sun was setting behind the trees. We were talking about school and stuff and then it got dark and I walked you back to your Gryffindor and then everyone was outside and… and they were sort of, chanting…" his voice trailed off as if the next part of the story was embarrassing.

"Chanting what? For us to kiss or something?" she laughed, of course she was joking. She was an extremely good guesser.

"Yeah. Exactly that." He stopped there, and then quickly added, "We were yelling at them and then… I woke up. Lucky for that eh?"

"You say that like kissing me would be a bad thing! I'm not horrible at it you know!" She laughed as she said this.

"I know. Well I mean, I figured, but you know, it would be weird and I might be, but I don't know, I haven't ever, you know. Sorry, I'm babbling." He cursed himself for being so awkward.

"Haha. I forgot you haven't ever… kissed anyone before. You know if it weren't for Sirius…" his face went red with embarrassment. "Picture it. I sure can."

"I can too." And with that, he put one hand on her back and the other on the side of her face. He leaned down and kissed her. Lily did not protest, but he quickly pulled away, his face bright red. His eyes widened and he muttered under his breath "Sorry… I erm- Ihavetogo." He turned and ran, not looking back at Lily as he bolted full speed towards the school. He thought he was safe when he heard a yell.

"SNIVELLUS!! I'LL KILL YOU!!" Sirius' voice boomed across the grounds. The threat shook Snape's brains and before thinking, he looked around, only to see the boy running at him like a bull. He pivoted where he stood and struggled to open the heavy wooden door into the main hall. He ran towards the dungeons. He could hear Black's footsteps behind him, echoing his own.

The leg of a Gryffindor shot out from a closely packed group of first years. It caught him right in the shin and he flew forward. Time slowed to a crawl as his face neared the marble floor. His heart drummed in his ears. Sirius' pace quickened and just as his cheek smacked against the cold stone, his head was pulled up by a fistful of hair.

"What in bloody hell do you think you were doing just then?" Sirius was still yelling, but this time the sound was muffled by the pounding of blood through his skull. He made to speak but the only thing that came out of his mouth was blood. He let it dribble down his chin and spit out the rest. "I ASKED YOU A QUESTION!" Sirius was now screaming right into his ear. Severus twisted around and grabbed his muscular arm. He twisted around and grabbed for his wand, but he was immediately sent back down to the floor by a fist, driven straight into his gut. He doubled over, clutching his stomach and spitting out more blood. Sirius pulled his leg back and before he could move, it was flung forward again. The force of the kick launched him up a meter off of the ground and he landed, crumpled with his wrist twisted beneath him. He tried to get up, but was unable to move. Every inch of his body hurt from the fall. He wished that the fight would end right now and he could go lay down in the hospital wing. He knew however that Sirius was only getting started.

"Get up and fight like a man! Don't just lay there!" Snape was pulled up again, but this time, Sirius had taken hold of his tie. He gagged as he tried to steady himself. Sirius ran at him, but he swiftly moved out of the way, employing a defensive tabletop strategy. Sirius cursed as he stood up. He looked unharmed, as if he had just been playing a game of Wizard Chess, not fighting. Like he had just lost a very important game of Wizard Chess.

"Is that really how you think a man fights? Punch me! I'd like to see you try! You're so yellow you can't even hit me. No wonder Lily chose me-" Severus was going to take a passive approach on this fight, but now that Lily Evans was part of the argument, he decided that violence would be best. Before Sirius could finish his sentence, he was hit square in the jaw. He stared dumbly at his attacker as a bit of blood dripped out of the side of his mouth. He recovered quickly enough to catch Snape's next punch and twist his arm around his back.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? No one kissed my girlfriend! I don't care if you're the bloody Prime Minister!" Restating his original question, he gave off an even stronger air of ignorance than he ever had. Then again, what should he expect from the arrogant pretty-boy? He stepped backward, dodging the quickly advancing form of Sirius Black. He closed his eyes, prepared to take another punch. A good feeling rose in his body when Lily's voice penetrated the crowd's anticipated silence. The joy quickly resided when he was hit full in the chest by a powerful curse. He was shot backward by the force and landed on the floor again.

"Sirius! Stop it! It wasn't his bloody fault!" She rushed over to his crumpled body, sobbing. "I'm so sorry Sev! I didn't mean for this- and you! Sirius Black, you are horrible! Is this how you deal with all of your problems?" She marched over to him, glaring into his eyes.

"I- I erm…" his voice trailed off and he looked at her with a blank expression. "I'm sorry. I guess I overreacted a bit, but he-" Snape got up slowly and leaned against the wall, a bit off from the crowd. Lily walked back to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He put an awkward hand oh her shoulder, silently letting her know that he was alright. She pulled back, her hands still resting on his hips. She stared into the black, watery eyes of the boy who just had his nose blown to smithereens by her boyfriend, Sirius, who she thought she's been love with. Standing together like that, she saw the blood and tears running down his face, the grease in his hair and on his forehead, and somehow in the huge crowd of students gathered to see the fight, she saw only him, Snivellus Greasy.

Eyes locked with hers, Snape blocked out the sound of the crowd's cheers and chants. He did not hear the professors pushing through the rows of people, or their horrified gasps when they looked at him. Lily took her hands off of his hips to wipe a tear from her cheek. Placing one hand on the side of his face, and the other on his back, she stood on her toes and kissed him.