A/N: I just couldn't wait to post chapter 2, so here it is! I hope you enjoy, and please leave any comments or feedback that you have so far.
Chapter 2
Lily
I grab Severus' wrist and guide him back to the same empty classroom. My tears fill with eyes before we even reach the room, just thinking about what I'm about to tell him.
"What is it?" Severus sort of snaps at me.
"I got a letter from my mum this morning," I say softly, my voice starting to quiver. Severus immediately notices something is wrong, and gently grabs my arm to make me face him.
"What's wrong? Is it about your dad?" he asks. He's the only person here at Hogwarts who I've told about the possibility of my dad being sick again. Not even Alice or Marlene know.
"She says it's not looking well," I reply, immediately bursting into tears.
"Lily," Severus says, taking his hand off of my arm and pulling me into a hug. "I'm so sorry, don't cry— please, don't cry," he murmurs as he tightens his grip around me.
We stand for a few minutes, his arms still wrapped around me, until my tears stop.
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James
A few minutes after Lily leaves, Sirius, Remus, and Peter arrive at the Great Hall and join me at the Gryffindor table. As soon as they've filled their plates, I make an announcement.
"I've got a plan," I say.
"And what might that be," says Remus, sniggering.
"It's a devious plan of sorts," I begin. "I'm going to make Lily stop hating me, and then trick her into realizing she's mad for me," I say, grinning at them.
"And how exactly are you going to do that?" Peter asks.
"Well, that's all that I've got planned so far. Just the general plan itself. Gotta work out the exact details," I mumble, looking shamefully at my empty plate, and reaching for another helping of scrambled eggs.
"Sounds like a winning plan," says Remus, laughing at me.
"Hey! I think you're brilliant mate," Sirius says, clasping his hand over my shoulder. "You'll win her over some day," he says, encouragingly.
"Thanks, Padfoot," I reply sheepishly.
A few minutes later, a flash of bright red catches my eye. My eyes dart to the side and focus on Lily as she reenters the Great Hall. Instead of heading back to the Gryffindor table, however, she darts towards Slytherin. I don't have to keep watching to know where she's headed. She places her hand on Snape's shoulder and my blood immediately begins to boil as I'm filled with jealousy and, moreover, annoyance. I clench my teeth together in anger, and stab a piece of sausage a bit too hard with my fork.
"Oi! Careful there, mate, the thing's already dead," Sirius says, noticing my sausage brutality.
"Lily just walked out of here with Snape," I say.
"Follow them?" Sirius suggests. "Got your cloak on you?" he asks, referring to my invisibility cloak.
"In my pocket," I reply, reaching for it immediately.
"Hey, just a word of advice, mate— if you want Lily to start liking you— hell, if you want Lily to start tolerating you, I don't think spying on her underneath your invisibility cloak is the way to go about doing it. She'd absolutely pulverize you if she ever found out," Remus points out. I ignore him, of course, and I hastily leave the table and walk quickly out of the Great Hall so as to catch up to Lily and Snape before they disappear.
I make it through the wide doors of the Great Hall just in time to see Lily and Snape disappear into a classroom further down the hall. Fiery jealousy rips through me once more, imagining the absolute worst of what they could be doing alone in an empty classroom together. Before whipping my invisibility cloak around my shoulders and over my head, I glance around to check for any other nearby students, and head straight for the classroom. They've left the door open just a crack. I peek in. Their backs are facing the door, so I slip inside, gently returning the door to its previous position. I grimace as Severus puts his hand on Lily's arm, and my heart leaps when I see her tear stained face and puffy, red eyes.
"What's wrong? Is it about your dad?" I hear Snape say, his voice as I've never heard it before— an octave higher than usual, coupled with concern and sincerity.
"She says it's not looking well," whimpers Lily whose voice also sounds nothing like I've ever heard it before; she bursts into tears and my heart wrenches beneath my chest.
"Lily," Severus says, his voice still soft, "I'm so sorry, don't cry— please, don't cry," he says, hugging Lily close to him. My entire body is on fire, and I want nothing more than to throw my cloak off, hex the living daylights out of Snape, and take Lily into my own arms to comfort her properly.
They leave a few minutes later, and I wait a few minutes longer before stuffing my cloak back into my pocket and leaving the classroom. What was Lily so upset about? What is wrong with her father? Surely nothing so serious that Muggle doctors, or even Lily herself couldn't fix it?
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Lily
Although it's a Saturday, and probably one of the last decent days we'll have before winter takes over, I spend the entire day up in my dormitory, in bed with my favorite fuzzy blanket wrapped around me. I can hear shouts, squeals, and laughter form outside through the cracked open window. I don't even leave the warm sanctuary that is my bed at lunchtime. I try to read, try to do homework— but I can't concentrate on anything. I know my mind won't settle until I hear the final verdict from my mum.
Around 3:00 o'clock, Alice comes up to check on me. "Lily? Are you alright? Why've you been up here all day— we've all been having a blast outside, you should've joined us," she says.
"I'm not feeling well is all, Alice. I think I'm coming down with something," I say, knowing my bloodshot eyes and pink cheeks will help make my tale more convincing.
"Everyone was asking where you were— James, in particular. He asked Marlene and I at least a half dozen times if we knew of anything that might be bothering you, and why you weren't outside with us," she tells me with a suggestive smile on her face.
I roll my eyes. "Guess he didn't know what to do with himself, not having me there to harass," I say.
"If you say so," Alice says. "Are you coming down for dinner?" she asks.
"Maybe— I guess so," I say, though I know I'll hardly be able to eat a thing with the nervous knot in my stomach taking up so much room.
"Well, we'll see you at dinner, then," she says. With a wave, she exits the room and heads back outside to join our friends.
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James
"Oi! Marlene, Alice" I call, running up to Lily's friends.
"What?" Marlene replies, flipping her nearly black, wavy hair over her shoulder as she turns to face me.
"Where's Lily?" I ask, out of breath.
"Dunno, why?" Marlene replies.
"Well, why isn't she out here with everyone?" I ask. "Nearly the whole school's outside enjoying the weather. She wasn't even at lunch."
"She's probably inside finishing some assignment due three weeks from now," jokes Marlene.
"I just saw her up in the dormitory, she's just in bed, said she thought she was coming down with something" Alice speaks up.
"So… Nothing else is wrong with her?" I ask. "Nothing's bothering her?"
"Not that we're aware of… Why? What do you know?" Marlene says, narrowing her eyebrows.
"Nothing. Just… Making sure," I say, and turn away from them, heading towards the tree that Remus, Peter, and Sirius are sitting under. I join them at the base of the trunk, still annoyed about seeing Severus with Lily this morning, who I'm now even more worried about.
"What do you say we find Snivellus and treat him with a few good hexes?" I ask my friends.
"Sounds bloody brilliant, I'm bored as hell," replies Sirius, grinning at me.
"You're just going to get in trouble," Remus says, looking severely annoyed.
"Well, you can stay here then," I say, rising off the ground. Sirius and Peter follow my lead, and we head towards the Slytherin's usual spot on the grounds. We find Snape and his usual crowd of dummy Slytherins right away.
"There he is, hanging out with Malfoy and Avery and their lot," sneers Sirius beside me.
"They're all future Death Eaters," I say, my lip curling in disgust.
"And there are my lovely cousins," Sirius says as he spots Bellatrix and Narcissa Black.
"Lovely, they can all be here for the show," I reply, giving Sirius a grin.
"Oi! Snape!" I yell as we get closer.
"Why are you so slimy?" says Sirius.
"Didn't your mum ever teach you how to bathe properly," I sneer, raising my wand. "Levicorpus!" I yell, and Snape immediately flies into the air, dangling by his leg.
"Put me down!" He yells, flailing and grasping at his pockets to try and find his wand. His group of friends just watch, some of them laughing with one another about the sight of Snape flailing around in the air. No one bothers to help him or fight back. I shoot a few more hexes at him, until something sharp hits me in the back of the head. I fall face forward onto the ground, groaning. I hear a loud thud as Snape's body hits the ground a ew feet in front of me. "What the bloody fuc—" I start.
"Potter! What do you think you are doing?" a familiar voice yells behind me.
"Evans!" I cry, sitting up and smiling up at Lily. "Lovely to see you."
"What is wrong with you, Potter? And you, Black? You'll be lucky if I give you a month's worth of detentions for this!" she screams. Her eyes are still red, like they were this morning.
"Lily," Snape sneers, rising off the ground. "I don't need the help of a— of a filthy Mudblood—" he yells, his voice growing louder with each word; he glances back at his friends as the words leave his mouth. Lily gasps, a look of horror on her face.
"Sev—" she starts.
"How dare you, you disgusting, slimy git—" I interrupt, and then hit Snape with another hex. Sirius, still beside me, does the same. I look over my shoulder for Lily, but she's gone.