A/N: I started writing this while sitting in the theater, waiting for the movie to start. They let us in around 10pm, so I had some time to kill. I continued this later while on the road and I thought you all might like it. The prompt was, Lily and Severus had been together, but my friend wanted me to write their breakup. I took it and ran with it. I hope you enjoy!
"Severus, I can't do this anymore." Lily was standing across from Severus in an abandoned part of the North Tower, their typical rendezvous point for their late-night secret meetings.
"Can't do what, Lily?" Severus asked, already dreading the answer.
"This. Us. It's not right, Sev." Lily had been staring at her hands while she spoke, but she then turned her green eyes to meet the eyes of the man standing before her. "I can't do this. I'm sorry."
"How is it wrong?" Severus demanded, his heart freezing in his chest. He loved Lily. This couldn't… This couldn't be happening to him.
"It's just… I can't do this." Lily bit her lip and looked down at her hand, the next sentence mumbled so quietly that Severus could barely hear it. "I can't do this to James."
Severus felt his blood temperature rising. "James? What does Potter have to do with this? You don't even like him!" Severus' fists clenched and his eyes welled up with tears. "You like him, don't you! After all this time, after everything he's done to me, you'd rather have me than him! He's just a stupid Gryffindor!"
"I'm a Gryffindor." Lily whispered, her eyes also filling with tears. "You can't do this anymore. You always… I hear how you talk. I hear how you talk about Gryffindors, about people like me."
Severus' chest felt hollow. "Lily, I… I never talked about you like that… I never wanted to hurt you… please…"
"Severus. I can't be the only exception. I hear you talking about muggle-born wizards, about Mudbloods. That's what you call them. I'm the only muggle-born you haven't talked to like that, Sev. I can't… I can't do this. Not if you hate people like me. You hate Gryffindors, you hate muggle-borns. I'm both. This won't work."
"Lily, please! I hate Gryffindors because of how they treat me! You've seen how they act- James, Sirius, Remus, all of them! They've hated me ever since they met me! Would you have expected me to feel any different?" Severus reached out and grabbed Lily's hand. "Please, don't leave me. I… I love-"
"Severus." Lily cut him off, shaking her head. "Please." Lily bit her lip as the tears started falling down her face. "Don't. I'm sorry. I have to… I have to go. I'm sorry. I can't do this."
"Lily-"
"Goodbye, Sev." Lily pulled away, and her hand slipped out of Severus'. "I'm sorry. I really am."
Severus finally let the tears start to fall as he watched her walk away. He sunk to the ground, wrapping his arms around himself. Lily was the love of his life. He had always been there for her, from the very beginning. Severus was there when even Lily's family had practically disowned her. And now… And now, Lily was leaving him. For stupid Potter. Severus' tears soon quickly turned into rage. He vowed to never be humiliated by a Potter, ever again. He stood up, wiping his face, and walked back to the common room, only one thought in his mind – never again.
Everyone could tell that there was something wrong with Severus. In Potions class, a class he usually excelled in, he messed up only a simple potion. He became even more moody and distant that usual, pushing his small number of friends away. Everyone noticed it, including James Potter and his friends.
Severus was walking to the library to study when he ran into James Potter. Literally. "Watch where you're going, Potter," Severus sneered, the rage in his voice practically tangible.
James laughed, holding his hands up. "Whoa, Sev, what happened to you? Did your mum threaten you with shampoo again?"
Severus' face turned red with rage, and he reached into his robes for his wand. He pulled it out and pointed it at James. "Not today, Potter. Trust me."
"Please."
Severus' eyes widened at the soft voice he heard. He watched as a small redheaded girl stepped out from behind Potter. "Sev, please don't do this. It's not his fault."
"But it is!" Severus exclaimed. "He's just a stupid Potter! He's a Gryffindor, he's hated me since the beginning, and you know that! I thought you hated him too!"
"No, Sev. I never hated him. I'm sorry." Lily now stood between James and Severus, blocking any of them from using their wands on each other.
"Get out of the way!" Severus seethed, his rage returning. He couldn't believe this. Lily had been lying to him. "You stupid Mudblood, move!"
Lily gasped, fresh tears falling down her face. Her hands flew to her face and she sunk to the ground. "Sev… Severus…" She gasped in between sobs. "You've never… you've never called me that before… You promised you never would."
Severus felt his heart sink to his feet. He couldn't… He couldn't believe what he had just said. His wand arm fell to his side. "Lily…" he said, taking a step towards her.
"Don't touch her!" James jumped in between Severus and Lily, his wand in Sev's face. "I suggest you leave, Snivellus."
Severus felt someone tugging on his arm, but he didn't acknowledge it. Someone pulled him away and back towards the Slytherin common room. He followed blindly, not really paying attention to who was taking him or where he was going. Someone helped him into his bed, where he sat in a daze for a while, the realization of what had happened just hitting him.
The next morning, Severus woke up, feeling empty. He didn't have anyone left. He had pushed all of his friends away, and Lily now hated him. Each day, he walked numbly through the halls, not really ever paying attention to what was going on around him. He put all of his energy into his schoolwork, producing excellent marks, yet they never mattered to him. Academics were simply an outlet for everything. Later, after leaving Hogwarts, he found a different sort of outlet for his pain. Severus Snape joined the Death Eaters, allying himself with Lord Voldemort.
When Snape heard that Voldemort was going to target Lily and her family, everything came rushing back. He went to the only person that he knew could help – Albus Dumbledore. He begged for him to find some way to protect them. He knew he was crying, everything that had happened rushing over him, along with a fear for Lily's life. It was Snape's fault that Lily had been targeted. Snape was the one that had told Voldemort about the prophecy.
Later, when Lily died, Snape returned to Dumbledore's office. He was furious and broken down with grief. At first, he blamed Dumbledore, furious that he didn't protect her. After Snape left Dumbledore's office, he felt the old numbness slipping back. For the next eleven years, Severus Snape was only going through the motions of living, not really feeling anything. It wasn't until he looked up to see Lily's bright green eyes in the face of a small boy that everything changed…
A/N: I hope you liked it! Please read and review and tell me what you think. Be honest! Constructive criticism is just as welcome as anything else you might have to say.
