As promised :)

"…filthy little Mudbloods like her!"

The words kept playing again and again in her head as Lily sat curled on her bed in the fifth-year Gryffindor girl's dormitory. She felt hot tears trickling down her cheeks and hastily wiped them away, angry that she was so hurt by Severus' words. It shouldn't have been a surprise—for months now she had known her best—well, former best friend's opinion on blood status. He had always assured her that the opinions of his distasteful friends were not his own, but… She snorted in disgust. She had known it would happen eventually.

Shaking her head to clear it of her depressing thoughts, the redhead resolved not to dwell on the situation anymore. Lily Evans was nothing if not put together and prepared for anything, and yet her belongings remained unpacked for the journey home tomorrow.

The freckled girl began moving around the deserted room, desperate for distraction. She would have a lonely month to grieve and recover over the summer before spending the rest of the time at Alice's house, so the sensible thing to do at the moment was to locate the various articles of clothing, books, quills, and other belongings that had been scattered throughout the dormitory over the past several months.

It was during the point at which the redheaded witch had begrudgingly wiggled underneath Marlene's bed to retrieve a wayward sock that the other teenage inhabitants of the room decided to burst in. Marlene, ever the one to misinterpret a situation, took one look at the freckled legs sticking out from underneath her four-poster and declared, "She always was the odd one. She's so distraught that she's hiding underneath a bed! Lily, under my bed isn't the best of locations for a cry. I'm fairly certain we understand your current state well enough that you don't have to hide. Or try it under Emmeline's… Godric knows she's far neater."

Mary and Emmeline rolled their eyes at the raven-haired witch's lack of tact and moved to their own beds to start packing. Alice shook her head. As she dove underneath the same bed as Lily, she said laughingly, "Marly, please. You know as well as I do that Lily has a bit more dignity than a person who would consider a cry next to your disgusting collection of old socks and candy wrappers healthy."

Comprehension dawned on Marlene's face. "Oh—she's in cleaning mode, is she? Lily, could you be a doll and help me? I think I need a little more help than the others…"

Lily and Alice reappeared from beneath the four-poster, each with armfuls of miscellaneous items. The red-rimmed emerald eyes danced with laughter. "Believe me, Marly, we know. Alice and I always seem to end up cleaning up for ourselves and you because of your aversion to cleanliness."

Marlene grinned and lounged in a fluffy chair in the corner. "I'm a rather fantastic supervisor though. And you two seem to enjoy it, so have at it!"

With laughter and some light-hearted digs at Marlene's mess, the girls finished packing for themselves. The three other witches laid on Lily's bed and watched Lily and Alice begin charming Marlene's things into her trunk when the redhead's stomach gave an audible growl.

Seeing her friends' concerned glances, Lily felt the onslaught of emotion coming on again. The girls had known to let her ignore the subject as she wished, but now it was difficult to avoid prying. They were all quite aware of the fact that Lily had skipped dinner to escape to the dormitory, after the episode down by the lake earlier.

The emerald eyes began filling with tears again, and she furiously ignored them. "Sorry girls, I…I just missed dinner and all, you know. Had to start packing and…and I wanted to check on… on something…"

Her voice petered to a halt when she saw that none of the girls were fooled in the least. Before she could try another excuse, Mary interrupted with a sympathetic clucking. "Don't you worry, Lily dear, I'll go grab you something from the kitchens."

This small act of kindness was all it took for Lily to burst into sobs again. Mary looked torn, but Alice waved her on. The blonde scrambled out of the dormitory, hoping that the house elves were still up.

The room went silent for a moment while the remaining girls pondered what to say. None of them had been at all fond of Snape, but Lily was one of their closest friends, and the scene down at the lake had been terrible. They understood that Lily had known that Severus and she could not be friends forever with the Dark magic he had fallen into, but no one had imagined that the end of the friendship would be so sudden, so public, and so cruel.

Alice broke the silence tentatively, gently hugging the crying witch. "Lily, you can let it out. Maybe we never understood Sn- Severus, but we're here for you."

Emmeline whispered in disbelief, "Lily, it was awful what he called you. And I know you want to blame Sirius and James, but no decent person would ever call another person that no matter what was happening."

Lily's head popped up from Alice's shoulder. She spoke quietly, but firmly. "I know, I know it wasn't their faults. Sev and I were always fighting, and all his friends are mixed up in that awful blood-status rubbish… it shouldn't have hurt me so much, because I knew… but…"

Her voice broke, but they all knew what she was going to say. It was the first time that the blood-status opinion has been spoken so publicly, and the way it had destroyed a longtime friendship was frightening. For a long time the girls sat talking through Lily's sadness and anger, and Marlene had her laughing by the time Mary reappeared with a tray of food and a worried expression.

After Lily had consumed a number of biscuits and a mug of hot tea, the green eyes observed a whispered conversation going on between Alice and Mary. She interrupted the joke Marlene had been relaying to Emmeline. "Mary, what's up?"

The blue-eyed girl wouldn't look at Lily. "It's nothing much, Lily, just nothing important—"

Marlene chuckled, "Oh please, Mary. Even Lily's laughing now, and you haven't cracked a smile since—"

Mary shook off her hesitation after a glance at Alice, and resigned herself to telling to bothersome news. "Since the trip to the kitchens, yes. Or rather, the trip back. You see, Snape's sitting outside the portrait hole… says he won't move until you talk to him, Lily."

As if on cue, the four girls all immediately turned to Lily. The auburn brows had furrowed into an angry frown. Shrugging off Emmeline's consoling hand, the redhead rose from the bed. "Don't worry about it," she said tightly. "I'll handle it."

And with a slam of the door, the four concerned friends were left waiting for Lily's return.

Alrighty, same deal here. I need a few more reviews and I'll have that third chapter up in no time! Next up is Snape and Lily and then our first Lily/James moment!

Love,

OfPheonixandHolly