Lily broke into the gryffindor dormitory, and ran up the stairs to her room, hoping that nobody else was in there. She just needed to be alone. She flung herself into the room and looked around, thankful that she was the only one there and stopped for a minute to catch her breath. She had run here all the way from the lake. One of lily's hands pulled at her hair as she sat down on her four poster bed. Silent tears began to fill her eyes and she tried to hold them back but it was too much effort and lily decided she didn't care enough to keep trying. With a great heavy sob lily began to cry. She grabbed the closest thing to her, which happened to be her pillow, and held it tightly to her chest as she sobbed.

Lily evans wasn't the crying type, yet here she was, bawling her eyes out. She was mad at herself, but she was also mad at severus for doing this to her. Down at the lake he had snapped and called her a "stupid, filthy mudblood". It's not like she didn't know he felt that way, but knowing it and hearing it were two different things.

Lily heard footsteps at the base of the staircase and quickly wiped her eyes. Her face was sure to be red and puffy but lily took deep breaths to tried and reduce it, at least.

Lily didn't want to talk to any of her dormitory members right now. They were good friends and all, but they could be a little much. Lily, being as upset as she was, didn't feel like having to handle any of them right now. But she didn't have to because the person that emerged from the stairs wasn't any of her dorm members. It was james potter.

Lily sniffled and stood up at the sight of her school rival standing there in the girls dormitory. The staircase was supposed to be enchanted to keep boys out, but him being james potter, of course he found a way to get past it. Leave it to him.

Lily lifted her chin a little higher, cleared her throat and said as strongly as she could manage

"What do you want, potter?" it came out shaky, but lily didn't let her face show her embarrassment. And there was embarrassment. Here she was crying over a stupid prejudice in front her her school-long enemy. To lily's surprise his face held concern instead of mocking and he said

"You okay, evans?"

Lily tried to say she was but it wouldn't come out. Instead she ended up shaking her head and sitting on the bed lost to a resolve of tears again. James sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. As much as lily detested the boy next to her she found his warm presence comforting and leaned into him.

James's thumb rubbed circles on her arm and he simply sat there next to her as she cried her heart out. Not necessarily even about being called a mudblood anymore, but just everything. Lily evans was someone who liked to hold things in and then came a time like this where she was set off and all the tears she had been holding in for months came streaming out.

Eventually the tears slowed and lily sighed. She wiped her face and turned to james.

"I'm so sorry," she sighed again "i don't know what's wrong with me." after she said it lily could swear that james almost looked… offended.

"Don't be sorry," he said "everybody needs a good cry now and then."

Lily leaned forwards into her hands and groaned. James's arm slipped off her back and returned to his side and lily suddenly felt cold at it's absence.

"I never do this, i promise." she muttered.

"No worries," james said quietly. There was a pause before he finished "it's getting kind of late. What do you say the two of us go down for some dinner, eh?"

Lily took her face out of her hands and nodded up at him. The two of them stood up and walked out of the dorm and down the stairs together.