Lily sat in their last potions class, waiting for dismissal as Slughorn went on and on about all his famous pupils and hinting heavily that if any of them were to do something important, he'd better benefit from it. She, in a very uncharacteristic manner, tuned out and instead looked over at the other side of the dungeon to where several grumpy looking Slytherins sat huddled, as if they could escape the other houses' presence in the mixed NEWT-level classroom by doing so. Lily's eyes found one greasy-haired boy amidst the cluster and stayed there. As potions was now their only class together (they had, coincidentally, decided to drop a number of their shared subjects), and this was their last potions class, this was her only chance. Normally she was delighted at the separation, but not today; today she had unfinished business.
And so, when Slughorn bellowed, "Well, off you go, remember you can't go wrong with crystalized pineapple!" she remained stationary in her seat until the boys slithered past, subtly tucking a folded piece of paper in one of the boy's books. The bat-like figure swooped out of the room without taking any notice at all.
Severus went to his private rooms alone after the Hogwarts Express had lumbered out of the station. He couldn't say he'd gone home; that place never felt like home. But, then again, no where had ever really felt like home. Well, there was a swing set, long ago, where they would fly above the clouds, but...
He couldn't dwell on that now.
He looked around the dark and dreary potions classroom that was now his. He had, instead of his preferred post, received the job as potions master here at Hogwarts. He had been given the summer to prepare, his predecessor having left on the Hogwarts Express with all his personal belongings, the room was bare. Not having considered that he would need to decorate, he had brought only potions ingredients and various supplies related to his work. Thinking that anything was better than nothing, he began filling the empty shelve with mysterious pickled objects in jars that had been left on the desk by the old potions master. When he had finished, the walls were lined with an assortment of bottles and jars and he still had a lot of time before it would be socially acceptable for him to leave.
Unsure of how to proceed, he decided to crack open his old potions Textbook to brush up on the material. He dug out the book he had not touched since last shoving it in his bag at the conclusion of his last potions lesson how many years ago, and opened a page at random. Immediately, he spied a folded up piece of paper that had gone unnoticed for as long as it had been there. Banishing the book to one of the more forlorn cabinets and sitting down at the worn black desk, Severus unfolded the stiff paper and didn 't quite believe his eyes when he saw the handwriting.
Severus, Not Sev.
This is my last chance to tell you what I need to say, as we haven't talked in ages. Even if I had reached out to you verbally, I'm not sure you would've listened. Because every time we talk it turns into, "Why didn't you trust me, Lily? Why are you so sure I'm in the wrong? Maybe they are. I don't like who you've been spending time with, Lily. They've always been so mean to us (but that's never what you mean, they were never mean to me). You promised you'd be there for me, Lily, but you aren't when your with them." I never get a word in edgewise. Well, I've thought and thought, and it really all comes down to one thing you ought to keep in mind:
You promised me, too.
Lily
And Severus Snape, ex-Death Eater, double agent, Potions Master of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, put his head down and cried.
