Chapter 1 - Lily's Friend

It was the first week of sixth year at Hogwarts, and I was eager to be back at school with my friends, Lily, James, Sirius and Remus. I was even a prefect, and I was looking forward to start my new role.

"I can't wait to see you take 50 points from Slytherin!" Sirius said excitedly. "That would be the best thing ever."

"I can't just randomly take points from people, you know," I replied. "As much as I'd like to get back at Lucius Malfoy for making fun of me last year, I'll probably get in trouble if I take points just because I hate someone."

"I know, I'm kidding," Sirius said. "Well, sort of."

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Of course you are."

"Come on guys, let's go to the lake!" Lily said. "It's such a nice day."

"Great idea, Lil," James replied. "Are you guys going to come?"

"Sure," Sirius and I said. Remus nodded in agreement.

We went to our usual hang out spot by the lake. Sirius sat next to me, and he spent most of the time making me laugh. Honestly, I had a small crush on him, but I wasn't going to act on it because he was one of my best friends, and I was afraid of stepping over that boundary.

"Hey, isn't that Snivellus?" James asked, as he saw a boy with pale skin and long dark hair sitting further away from us alone, reading a book.

"Yeah, what a loser," Sirius said with a laugh. I frowned.

"What?" Sirius asked me. "It's the truth."

"Yeah, but it's not nice, Sirius," I said. "Don't pick on him just because he's in Slytherin."

"Exactly," Lily said. "Why don't we just let him be."

The boys didn't like that idea, but I warned them I would even take points from our own house if they dared to bully Snape.

Sirius was kind of annoyed at me after that, but I didn't care. I could use my position for good, even if it meant making my friends mad at me. Lily was happy that I stood up for her friend, and she supported me in using my position to defend other people.

The next day, I was walking back to the common room from the library when I heard Sirius, James and Remus talking to someone in an aggressive way. I peeked behind the corner and saw them standing around Severus Snape, demanding him to give them the answers for the potions exam because they all knew he was the best in the class.

"Come on Snivellus, give us your answers," Sirius said, "or else we will tell everyone your deepest secret."

"No," Snape said, "leave me alone!"

"There's three of us and one of you," James said. "You better do as we say."

"Get away from me," Snape spat at them. "I'm not giving you anything!"

"Do you want everyone to know that you're secretly in love with my girlfriend, and that you're jealous of me because I'm with her?" James sneered.

"I am not in love with her!" Snape said. "She's just my friend. That's it."

"You're lucky I even let you guys be friends," James responded. "Though I'm afraid that's not going to last long if you don't give us those answers."

"He's a liar! Of course he's in love with Lily!" Sirius said.

"I was. I don't love her that way any more! I swear!" Snape replied.

"If you're not in love with her, then prove it by giving us those answers," Remus said.

I'd had enough at that point. I stepped out behind the corner and took out my wand, pointing it at James.

"If you three say another word to Snape, I'm going to report you to the headmaster, AND take 20 points each from Gryffindor!" I threatened.

"What!?" Sirius exclaimed. "You can't do that. We're your friends!"

"Yes, but I am also a prefect," I said. "And I can't tolerate this kind of behavior towards another student who has done absolutely NOTHING to you. You guys are being so mean to Snape, and I can't believe I'm even friends with you after seeing the way you treat him. Lily would be furious if she saw you guys talking to him like that right now, and you know it. So you'd better leave before I give you all detentions for a week!"

Sirius, James, and Remus quickly left without saying anything, they were all stunned that I'd threatened them. Even Snape looked speechless, he'd never had anyone stand up for him before. He just stared at me. We looked at each other for a moment, as I tried to calm down from my anger.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

He blushed a little and nodded. "Y-Yes, I'm fine. I-I just didn't know what to do."

"It's alright," I said. "I'm sorry for the way they treated you. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Really?" He asked.

"Yes," I said. "It's my duty of being a prefect. To make sure that people behave."

"Well, you've got a tough job," he replied. "Those guys are ALWAYS trying to get me."

"I know," I said. "But this year will be different, Snape. I promise."

"I hope so," he replied. "Aren't you a friend of Lily's?"

"Yeah," I said. "We have almost every class together, you know."

"I know. I just don't talk to Gryffindors," he replied. "Except Lily."

"Well I understand if you don't want to talk to me," I said, "but I'll still look out for you."

Snape gave me a shy smile, and I smiled back.

"Thanks, Parker," He said, using my last name. "I have to go now. I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"Goodbye, Snape," I replied. I watched him leave to go to the Slytherin common room. I left to go back to my own dorm, to tell Lily about everything that had just happened. Maybe Snape and I would turn out to be friends after all. I started to think that maybe he wasn't as strange as everyone thought.

A/N: Hope you liked it! I'm sorry it was short, this is my first story, but I've had it in my head for a while. Tell me what you think! I'll update soon!