Chapter 2.
No Notes in Potions Class
None of the other students noticed Lily and Severus holding hands as they walked to their double potions class for the day. Well, none of them except James Potter, who had come running around the corner and straight between them, breaking their hold on each other's hands, making Lily gasp. Her eyes never left Severus as James grabbed her arm and dragged her around the corner.
"Spill it. What was that letter about?" he breathed raggedly, tired from running to break them apart.
"James! Let go!" said Lily firmly as she shook off his hand, glaring at him in the dark hallway. "Forget about it, okay? Just don't say anything to anyone. That letter was nothing…" she trailed off, voice shaking.
She then turned on her heel and bolted back towards Severus, then grabbed him and sped into the potions room.
Now, all of the Slytherin and Gryffindor students in their third year were sitting in the potions room writing on their slips of parchment. The teacher had left the room in a hurry, before she even began the lesson, for some emergency faculty meeting. She had assigned them some random bookwork, describing the similarities in the ingredients of Polyjuice Potion and Felix Felicis. James, being done with his in a few minutes, after writing a short sarcastic list, started writing something else. Sirius was relaxing on his right, having not even started, and Remus was on James' left toiling away.
In the next section, across the aisle and two rows up, Lily sat. She was relaxed in her chair with her notebook in her lap. Her head was down, and underneath the curtain of red hair, her shoulder was just barely touching Severus'. Severus was turned to his right, complaining to Jake Gaunt, a nasty fellow Slytherin, about the assignment. Jake was loudly saying how he didn't really care, because he wasn't going to do it anyway.
Jake had stopped mid-sentence on his next statement, because there was a light thud that rang through the room. A small folded piece of paper had landed next to Lily, and her head snapped up to look at it. Jake opened his mouth to say something, and Severus turned to glare at the note, knowing exactly who it was from and what it would say. Lily realized then that she better read it and hope and pray that it was from Arthur Weasley asking about more muggle contraptions, because that was far better than what she knew deep down it was. She was highly disappointed, but not surprised, when she opened it to find the trademark sloppy handwriting of James Potter.
"Dear Evans,
We need to talk about that letter. Whenever you get your hands away from Snivilus long enough, I've got some questions for you.
-James"
Lily's eyes were wide with horror as she read, and they nearly popped out of her head when she felt the page being ripped from her hand by Jake Gaunt.
"No notes in potions class, Evans!" he shouted, smirking darkly down at her, pacing towards the front of the classroom.
"Jake! Stop it! Give it back!" she choked out as she pranced frantically around the desk, up the aisle, and towards Jake.
He just laughed, holding it up. "Oh, I see! Secret romance with Potter? Won't Sev be angry?" his eyes darted to a red-faced, enraged, and hurt Severus.
"Give it here." Lily demanded, holding out her hand, and stepping closer to Jake.
When he didn't hand it over, she jumped for it, grabbing at the place above his head where he held it.
"Now, Now, Don't get all fired up. I don't care if you are dating Severus, you need to get out of my space before something bad happens." He said, hopping up and jumping over the desk. He ran to one corner of the room
"Stop it! You ARSE! Give that to me!" shouted Lily, running after him.
The whole class was just keeping their heads down except for an awestruck James and Severus, who were both watching with wide eyes and dropped jaws. Jake opened the note, straightened it out and read it. Lily just stared in disbelief.
"Got secrets, do you, Mudblood?" Jake spat, throwing it on the teachers desk, and then he pulled out his wand.
He pointed it and said the words, setting the piece of paper on fire. Lily just stopped, tears rimming her eyes, watching and shaking. In a moment, after the paper had burned and most of the students had looked up, she charged at him, fists clenched by her side. Jake thought quickly and slung his wand towards her, a roaring whip of fire slinging out of it in a split second, and swiping across her chest, knocking her to the ground.
Later she would find a purple bruise following a similar path. James leapt to his feet, pulled out his wand and hexed Jake with anything that came to his mind, and then helped Lily up and out of the room. She gave her now wet, puffy eyes a chance to scan the room of shocked faces, at last her eyes falling on Severus, who had his hung watching his clenched fists.
