Disclaimer- Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Lily Evans ran down platform 9 and 3/4 trying to keep up with the rest of the students. Her hair was sticking to her face, and her trunk was much heavier than she had anticipated. Frustrated, Lily groaned and came to a stop. Looking around, she saw many familiar faces and smiled. Her break had been rather uneventful, and she was glad to be going back to Hogwarts. The whole summer Petunia had ignored her as usual, and Severus suddenly became too busy to spend time with her. Lily couldn't wait to have some company, and to catch up with friends.
"Lily, goodness! Don't you ever run so fast again, you're going to hurt yourself! Do you have all of your things? All of your books?"
"Mom, calm down, I have absolutely everything," walking over to her mom, Lily gave her a long hug; she had to admit that she was going to miss her parents.
"Now Tunia, give your sister a hug, come on!"
Petunia looked as if she had swallowed a large bug; her nose wrinkled up, yet she walked over to Lily and gave her the stiffest hug that one could possibly receive. However, she pulled away faster than someone on fire, and took a few steps back. Lily, not expecting anything different, waved goodbye and boarded the Hogwarts Express.
"Lily."
She had barely walked down the train corridor, when someone whispered her name. Turning around she saw Sev, sticking his head out of a compartment. He looked as pale as ever; dark circles formed under his brown eyes. He gestured for her to come inside, and she obliged, wanting an explanation for his behavior. Not that Lily was stupid of course, she had known for quite some time now that Sev was involved with a shady group of characters who were keen on supporting a dark wizard, Voldemort.
"Listen Sev, I don't know why you're talking to me now. I told you that I didn't want to be friends with someone who was following Death Eaters," Lily sat down, anger fleeting across her face.
Sev had been her dear friend, after all, he was the first person to tell her about Hogwarts. She thought that they had shared so much, but lately their friendship had diminished. At first Lily had been sad, but with time her emotions were replaced with disappointment and acceptance.
"Lily, please, it's not like that at all. I wanted to talk to you, I was going to write, but I got so caught up," Severus began pleading.
"Doing what? Nasty pranks? Tormenting others?"
"If you're going to talk about nasty pranks, you should really consider what your fellow house members are up to. All last year, Potter and his stupid gang spent all of their-"
Before Severus could finish what he was saying, the door pulled open, and three boys entered, all laughing, and all wearing Slytherin robes. They stopped in their tracks and looked at Severus; clearly surprised to see him. Lily followed their eyes and saw disgust on their faces. Of course, being seen with Lily meant that Sev's reputation would go down the drain.
"Severus, what are you doing? Were you talking to her?"
"Me? Talk to someone like Evans? I don't think so," Severus stood up and glared at Lily. The three intruders looked satisfied and invited Severus to join them in a different compartment.
"One that's free of filth," muttered the tallest of the three, as they all piled out, leaving Lily completely alone.
Straightening her robes, Lily stood up and made her way to the prefects compartment. She wasn't the least bit offended by what Mulciber said. People like him thought that having muggle parents made you less worthy, Lily however, knew otherwise. During her first five years at Hogwarts, she had gained a reputation for being exceptionally smart, plus she had a dab for potions, and was appraised by Professor Slughorn.
What had hurt Lily though, was the fact that Sev didn't stand up for her. Last year, he had called her a Mudblood after she helped him out of a sticky situation with Potter and his friends. After the incident, he apologized countless times, but Lily told him that they had both chosen their sides. It took almost a month for her to forgive him, yet she had, and now she felt as betrayed by him as ever.
"Lily, there you are, we're supposed to be patrolling the corridors, you missed the speech."
"Remus!"
Running up to her fellow class mate, Lily gave him a huge hug. Remus Lupin was the only person out of Potter's circle of friends that Lily tolerated and liked. He was smart and observant, unlike the loud and arrogant Potter. James Potter was in Gryffindor, and in the same year as Lily. However, Lily couldn't stand the sight of him, and often wondered why the Sorting Hat placed him in a house that was supposed to uphold bravery, honor, and chivalry. He thought much too highly of himself, walked around as if he owned the school, and worst of all made it his mission to get Lily to go out with him. Potter had three best friends; Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Sirius was very handsome, but almost just as careless as James. Peter was...well Peter. Lily couldn't tell very much about him, except that he seemed very happy to be included in a group.
"Good to see you again Lily. How was your summer?"
"Not so great. It was nice spending time with my parents, but my sister thinks that I'm a freak," Lily laughed and pointed to her wand. "It's like she thinks that I'm going to curse her any minute. But anyway, how was your summer Remus?"
"Well Sirius and I stayed with James for a while, Peter couldn't make it."
"Honestly Remus, I don't see why you spend so much time with those three. What could you all possibly have in common?"
"The fact that we all find you super attractive Evans."
Potter had walked up behind Lily without her noticing and was now leaning down to whisper in her ear. Lily jumped, turned around, and smacked him on the side of his head. She had told him so many times that she would never be interested in someone like him, but he remained just as determined, and refused to give her space.
"You toerag, get away from me!"
"I might if you agree to go on a date with me. How does a trip to Hogsmeade sound?"
Lily rolled her eyes and pushed around Potter, walking in the opposite direction. She was in no mood for his stupid jokes. His humor was plain ill, and Lily wanted some peace and quiet. She began looking into every compartment, trying to find her best friend. Where was that girl?
Lily kept walking along until she saw one compartment whose door was slightly open. She was almost about to pass it, when she heard hushed voices coming from the inside. The voices were clearly arguing and as much as Lily felt that she should walk away, she couldn't. Not because Lily was nosy, no, but because one of the voices belonged to Sev.
"I don't know, I just don't know," yelled Sev.
"Come on Severus, you have to do it sometime, what are you waiting for? You're about to turn sixteen, forget making school your top priority. Listen, we can help. Avery's father is very well connected if you know what I mean. All I'm saying is that we need to take further steps to assure that we have the highest honor when the time comes. We can do something useful for a change, mere support and admiration won't get us anywhere..."
Lily pulled away from the door, shock flowing through her body. What was Mulciber talking about? Whatever it was, sounded dangerous and Lily didn't know why Sev had gotten himself into this whole deal. Was he planning to actually do something to help Voldemort? He was still in school, only a sixth year, there was no way that Sev would hurt anyone.
"Lil! Where have you been?"
A perky little brunette, with curly hair, green eyes, and a large smile on her face, ran up to Lily and gave her a huge hug. Amelie had been Lily's best friend ever since their first year. Even though the two girls had many different traits from one another, they had somehow balanced each other out and stuck together. Amelie adored Divination and was intent on becoming a Healer. While Lily studied however, Amelie found more pleasure in chatting up boys.
"I was talking to Remus, and then I overheard Sev talking to Mulciber and Avery. Mulciber was trying to persuade Sev to do something, I don't know what, I couldn't tell, but it sounded really suspicious. He hardly talked to me all summer, but I just don't want for him to get involved with that crowd," ranted Lily.
"Lil, you have always cared too much for that boy. He is obviously up to no good! You are so kind and trusting, but you have got to leave him alone. The way that he treated you last year? Unacceptable! But if they really are up to something then I think that we should tell someone, maybe Dumbledore? Professor Mcgonagall?"
"No! No way Amelie! Sev was my friend, and as much as you don't like him, I don't want to get him into trouble over something that I know nothing about. We should at least wait, find out more."
"You mean spy on Severus?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm implying. I want to know what he is up to."
"Well, if you're really up for that, I know a few mighty fine boys who have a knack for things like that," giggled Amelie.
"Ugh, you need to develop better taste," retorted Lily, knowing that Amelie meant Potter, Sirius, and Remus.
Amelie had become infatuated with Sirius last year, when they had to be partners in Herbology. Ever since then, she had begged Lily constantly to go out with James, and to set her up with Sirius. "You can tell James that you will go on a date with him if he brings Sirius along, then you can bring me, and voila!" Lily, who found the idea revolting, always shook her head, and told Amelie that she was sure that Sirius would be perfectly happy to go out with her if she had asked him herself.
Shortly after night fall, the Hogwarts Express arrived at Hogwarts. Lily had just finished putting on her robes when Amelie pulled her outside. Amelie had never been the patient type, and she was definitely found of the first day back feast. Lily however, was not as eager, seeing as she knew that the possibility of having to sit close to Potter was high. She couldn't even count all of the times that Potter had ruined her dinners before, either with stupid remarks, or just by being himself.
"We'll never find a carriage at this rate," complained Amelie, as the two girls made their way towards the road that led up to Hogwarts.
"Don't be so negative, look, there is one right there," replied Lily, pushing Amelie into the first carriage that she saw.
Amelie tried to fight back, but it was too late. Lily got in behind her, closed the door, and sat down right beside Severus. An awkward silence passed, as Lily exchanged looks with Amelie. Amelie's eyes slowed on the door, but Lily shook her head. It would be too rude to leave now. Glancing over at Sev, Lily saw that he looked just as mortified.
"Lil, I know that you probably don't want to hear this, but I need to apologize. I am so sorry. Please understand."
"I do understand. I understand that I was right about what I said last year. You're on a path that is leading no where good Sev. Stop now, why are you doing this? What does Voldemort have to offer you?"
"Don't say his name," shrieked Amelie, getting into the conversation.
"Lil, you don't get it, you weren't brought up in the same family that I was. You're a Gryffindor for goodness sakes! Everything is so much easier for you, your parents don't care about the path that you choose. But it's not even about that, it's about the fact that you're too blinded by the whole chivalry thing to even look at what could be better for you."
"Lily is ten times the person that you are," chirped Amelie.
"Amelie, please," begged Lily. "And Sev, I am not the one who is blinded. Yes, the world is not black and white, but Mulciber and Avery are not just dabbling into something that's in between. I overheard the conversation ya'll had on the train, not all of it, just a small part, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, but tell me Sev, what was that all about?"
"Don't ask questions that you don't want answers to. I don't know what you heard, but I suggest that you put it out of your mind. You don't want to get into Mulcibers's business," warned Severus.
"I don't care about Mulciber. Anyway, what he said sounded a lot like it was going to become your business Sev."
"Maybe, maybe not. Look, why can't we just be friends without you interrogating me? Am I doing anything to hurt you? I still think that you are wonderful Lil."
"Oh please, don't make me laugh. Was it not you who said that talking to someone like me would be a disgrace?"
"I didn't say those exact words, and I didn't mean it! You know that I didn't!"
"Just leave me alone Sev, you have done too much damage," snapped Lily, sitting back in her seat, and turning to look out of the window.
For the rest of the ride up to Hogwarts, everyone was silent. Lily was glad that Amelie didn't try to make small talk because Lily's mind was far off in wonder land. She thought about her and Sev, how they had always supported each other. He had told her all about his drunken father, and she had told him about being the black sheep in her family. At the beginning of last year, Lily could have never predicted that things would end up like this. Sev had really liked her, he had taken her on walks around the castle, he had been a gentleman. Lily even considered that their friendship could grow into something more. How stupid of her.
