Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter.
*This takes place at the end of sixth year*
May 13th, 1976
It had been almost an entire year since Severus Snape had called Lily Evans 'that word', as many people called it to spare her feelings as though just the mention of it would cause her to burst into tears. He had approached her or rather attempted to approach her on several instances following that day to apologize for his hurtful words and she did not forgive him. But she wanted to, every part of her wanted her dear friend back, the one that accepted her before anyone else and introduced her to the magical world. She couldn't forgive him despite her longing, he was not that person anymore as much as she wished he would be.
She still found her ears perking up whenever he was mentioned or her eyes springing towards him when he'd walk by, hoping that one day she would hear something that would change her opinion on him or notice something that told her that all her fears were unfounded. On this day in particular she had heard something concerning, something that made her stomach churn and rumble uncomfortably in ways that it hadn't since that day last year.
"You don't think it's true… do you?" She whispers, her emerald eyes swimming with worry. She looks around for what must be the hundredth time to check that they have no eavesdroppers, the library is fairly full as exams are approaching (much to Lily's dismay). The beautiful Dorcas Meadowes and her fan club were seated a few tables away, Regulus Black's lonesome figure could be seen popping in and out of bookshelves every so often, and James Potter and his friends were in the opposite corner safely out of earshot. She sits with her closest friends: Marlene and Alice, far away from the prying eyes of Madam Pince.
"Yes, actually I do." Marlene quips impatiently after the fourth time she's been asked the question. Alice looks at her with a reproachful expression but adds lightly, "I know it's not what you want to hear but I agree with Marlene, he seems to have chosen his path and I don't think you stressing yourself over it is going to change anything."
"I just need to know for sure. I don't think I can go on wondering." Lily mumbles quietly. "Well, it's not like you can ask him. He'd never tell you the truth and even if he did, I'm not sure it's what you want to hear." Alice murmurs, fingernails tapping the pages of the book before her gently. "Yeah, what are you going to do? Spy on him or something?" Marlene scoffs leaning back and pushing the front two legs of her chair off the ground.
Lily's eyes spark at that idea and Marlene shoots her an incredulous look. "That wasn't a suggestion!" She hisses. "Don't even get that into your head, Lily. It's not a smart idea to spy on Snape with his Death Eater cronies." Alice adds frantically, naturally anxious for Lily's well-being.
"Wait," Marlene pipes up, her eyes distant like she's figuring something out. "You might just be able to do it. That is, if you enlist some help." This takes Lily by surprise and she waves her hand urgently for her to continue. "I know someone who seems to be everywhere but nowhere all at once." She draws out dramatically like the narrator for a movie trailer. "Someone who would do anything for you." Lily's eyes darken at this, now she's caught on. "James Potter is right over there, ask for his help."
"Even if I wanted to do that, he hates Snape. He'd never agree to it." Lily hedges but Alice shakes her head. "I don't think he'd tell you no, Lily. You should at least ask if you feel you really have to do this."
Lily bites her lip as she considers the idea. She wishes she could just ask Remus but he hasn't been in class all day. Potter really hadn't been bad that year though, for the most part he'd given her distance aside from the few comments he didn't seem to have any control over. Something seemed to change over the summer, he even wrote her an apology letter. A letter that she still has in her desk drawer at home. It boiled down to the fact that she needed to know what was going on with Severus, even if it meant asking Potter for help.
"I think I will ask." She nods her head decidedly and raises herself from her chair. She marches up to their table before she can lose her nerve. Potter, Black, and Pettigrew seem to all be hunched over a large piece of parchment when she approaches. Peter frantically taps James on the shoulder mumbling "Prongs" several times over and he manages to shove the offending parchment under a book before smiling at her in greeting.
"All right there, Evans?" He says, ruffling his hair.
"Actually, I wanted a word. Do you think we could…?" She trails off, gesturing to behind a nearby bookcase.
"If you want to snog him, Evans you might as well do it in front of us. He won't get the same satisfaction if you don't." Sirius smirks and James ignores him, standing from the table and following her away.
"Sorry about Sirius." He mumbles when she stops far enough away that no one can hear them. She waves him off restlessly.
"I need a favor, Potter—"
"Yes." He interrupts eagerly and she has to fight a smile. "Okay, but you already agreed so you can't back out." She warns him and this time he waves her off.
"You're not going to like it…" She starts, suddenly nervous and his thick eyebrows furrow in confusion. She sighs and forces herself to go on, she's a big girl. "I heard Sev—Snape telling his creepy friends that he would discuss… he made it sound like they were discussing something dark tonight at eleven in the Slytherin common room and I need to hear what they're going to say." When she meets his hazel eyes, she finds an anger there she's not accustomed to.
"No." He says and he makes to turn away but she grabs his forearm desperately. "I don't want to and even if I did, I can't tonight." He tells her as tenderly as he can through his irritation. "I need to know." She pushes, her voice almost a whimper. He shakes his head. "No, Evans, you don't. I could tell you what they're going to say right now, no sneaking around necessary." He starts to walk away when so quietly he almost isn't sure he actually hears it she mutters, "Please, James. You promised."
"Meet me in my dorm at 10:30." He tells her over his shoulder, despite the voice in his head that tells him not to and rejoins his friends.
Lily drags her feet as she ascends the staircase to the boys' dormitories, apprehensive that this night will permanently slander her opinion of Severus. It's not hard to find their dormitory, she knocks hesitantly and pushes it open when she hears a muffled "come in". She finds James sitting beside the window and he smiles slightly when he sees her.
"Pity, I finally get you in my dorm and Sirius isn't here to make lewd comments about it." She laughs despite herself before he catches her in an intense gaze. "I need you to promise that what happens tonight, well anything concerning me, stays between you and I. Or I'll have to break my promise." She nods immediately, ready to agree to almost anything at this point.
"Good," He says before reaching into his trunk and pulling out a silvery bundle. "This is an invisibility cloak. We'll sneak into their common room and they'll be none the wiser but you can't make any noise or else they'll hear us." She nods her head agreeably. Slightly dazed at the prospect of an invisibility cloak, she should've known that James would have something of the sort. It explains so much.
"Are you sure you'll be able to keep quiet?" She asks him wryly, ignoring the constant twisting of her stomach. He chuckles at that and throws the cloak around him causing every part of his body to disappear save for his head. "It'll be tight." He warns her and snaps his head slightly back to indicate that she should join him underneath.
He's right, it is a tight fit. She's nestled into his front, his long arms raised to keep the cloak from dropping on her face. It's difficult but they make it down the staircase and out the portrait hole undetected by the group of seventh years huddled around the fire. "Do you know where their common room is?" She asks, suddenly wondering if he was prepared or if he was just hoping to get lucky. "Of course, I know where their common room is." He snorts and proceeds to step onto the back heel of her shoes, muttering a vague apology.
He nudges her in the direction of the dungeons and she can't really remember how they got there but they find themselves behind a stone wall. They stop momentarily and she feels him rustling some sort of parchment behind her and muttering incoherently. He tells her they have to wait a moment and then after what seems to be a few minutes he mutters something unintelligible again. "The common room is empty now." He assures her and then utters the Slytherin password: "knotgrass". She wants to ask him how he knows the common room is empty or how he knows the password but as she's hurried into the Slytherin dungeons she thinks that might be a question for a different time.
They pick a corner to the side of the couches and they wait patiently for the offending Slytherins to enter. It doesn't take long. Snape comes in first, taking a seat on one of the couches and pulling his potions book out. He's flipping through the pages idly when Mulciber and Avery emerge from their dormitories.
Avery speaks first. "Do you think we can trust him?" Snape scrunches his nose in concentration as though he's solving world hunger. "I think we can. He seems eager but for the right reasons, I don't think he'll betray him. In fact, I think he'd be a powerful ally." Who are they talking about?
"What makes you say that?" Mulciber asks, picking at his fingernails.
"He comes from good blood. His family has resources that other families do not and unlike other families they will support him, even praise him for his decision." Mulciber and Avery consider his words for a moment. "Yes, but I don't think that when the Dark Lord asked us to recruit for him that he had wizards younger than us in mind." Mulciber says his eyes no longer trained on his fat fingers, he sits up a little straighter and pays closer attention.
"But Regulus Black would be the eyes inside Hogwarts. He could give us details on Dumbledore's plans and his recruits. It would be invaluable." Snape says. Lily can feel James stiffen at the mention of his best mate's brother and almost on its own accord, her small hand envelopes his. He doesn't respond immediately but after a moment he squeezes her hand back.
"Do you really think that this is what's going to earn you a dark mark? Suggesting Regulus Black as a spy inside Hogwarts?" Avery asks unsure. Oh, Lily thinks to herself in horror, this is some sort of Death Eater initiation.
"I do. The Dark Lord fears Dumbledore, he will naturally want someone snooping around the school." Mulciber shrugs at his reasoning. "It might just work, we'll suggest it to some of his inner circle and see where it leads us and with any luck this time next year we'll be a part of that circle." He sneers.
Lily feels a single tear drop from her eye as she observes her once best friend climbing the staircase to his dormitory. She thinks that maybe James and her friends were right, maybe she didn't want to hear this. But at least now she knows where his loyalties lie, at least now she knows she made the right choice.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't expect that you would hear those things about Sirius' brother. I'm sure this puts you in an awkward position." She tells him, her voice still a bit shaky from the information they'd just uncovered. Snape and his friends were on track to become Death Eaters when they left Hogwarts and they planned on taking Regulus down with them.
They walk along the corridor, the invisibility cloak now removed and their hands still clasped together tightly. She notices that James repeatedly looks through the windows as they pass and seems to be deep in thought.
"I'm sorry too, Evans. Are you okay?" He asks, searching her bright green eyes only to find them swimming with fresh tears. He drops her hand suddenly and envelopes her in a warm embrace, weaving his hand in her thick dark-red hair, holding her fiercely against him. She doesn't know how long they stand there wrapped in one another's arms but it seems like eternity.
"I know what you need." He says pulling away and shooting her a mischievous smirk that worries her.
"Oh and what is it that I need, Potter?" She plays along.
"Comfort food."
Lily finds herself sitting beside him in the kitchens, being served dutifully by an old house elf. She brings James an entire treacle tart and Lily a platter of pumpkin pasties. The house elf also left them cauldron cakes, ice cream, and a large array of chocolate sweets. There is too much food but neither one of them has the heart to tell the house elf to stop bringing it because she seems so happy to have company.
"I guess it just confirmed what I already knew." Lily sighs sullenly, picking at her pumpkin pasty. James is already half way through his own dessert and looks at her progress disapprovingly.
"Let's talk about something else, shall we?" He suggests. "What do you want to do when you leave Hogwarts?"
Lily thinks for a moment before deciding it would be all right to share this information with him. "Well, I always wanted to be a healer. I do quite well in charms and potions so I feel it would be a nice fit. However, recently I've been thinking about possibly becoming an Auror. With everything that's been going on, I think I'd like to fight." She says more firmly than he expects. He likes this side of her, the passionate one. That's why he became so enamored with her in the first place, she's exquisite when speaks about something she cares for.
"And yourself?" She prompts.
"I think I'd like to be an Auror too, maybe a quidditch player." He shrugs and she nods.
"Do you think it's true what they said? About Dumbledore recruiting people, do you think he's starting a resistance?" She asks. James thinks for a moment, this had been on his mind since they overheard it as well.
Finally he shrugs. "I'd believe it, guess we'll have to wait and see to know for sure."
She's about to respond when something mushy collides with her cheek. James Potter just threw a pumpkin pasty at her! How dare he? She takes a deliberate handful of his treacle tart and makes to throw it at him but he bolts from his seat. She hits him square in the back, splattering his black robes.
"Oh you think you can play with the big dogs do you, Evans?" He laughs and a full-fledged war begins. Cakes and ice cream fly through the air, pie crust somehow wedges it way into Lily's bra, and James' glasses seem to be permanently coated in chocolate mousse.
When they return to the common room, laughing and covered from head-to-toe in sweets they collapse onto the couch beside each other. Without thinking Lily leans her head against his shoulder and lulls into a peaceful slumber. James jumps slightly when he hears a faint howl coming from the grounds outside but decides that just this once, he'll stay with his new friend and rests his head atop hers before he lets sleep take him.
A/N: I hope that you enjoyed it! Please, please review and let me know if you would like to see more and I'd be happy to continue! I always feel like the fics I read aren't as close to the books as I would like so I decided to write my take on what I know of Lily and James' story.