I can remember how devastated Severus was when Lily stopped being his best friend. He'd called her Mudblood when she'd come to the rescue – an unforgivable mistake that I, especially being the Dark Lord's daughter, knew better than to make unintentionally. Sure, the word was useful for persuading blood-obsessed Slytherins and Death Eaters, but I'd figured out from a young age not to use it unless necessary. You might offend some important pawns on the board. But I digress.

Snape came, on the brink of tears. I could tell that he was trying to 'be a man' and all that, but what he really wanted to do was curl up into a little ball, find a hole, and sob.

"What happened, Sev?" Out of the public eye, Severus and I were on quite familiar terms, and remained so for the rest of our lives.

"I called Lily 'Mudblood'! How could I possibly have made such a stupid mistake? I've loved her forever, and now it's my own fault that she's not going to forgive me."

"What happened? What on earth possessed you to call her that? How could you have made such an elementary mistake, Sev?" I tried, I really did, not to sound too severe, but it came out harsher than I'd meant. Comforting people has never really been my strong point.

"That air-head, Potter, hexed me. And then Lily came out and saw us, and she was trying to defend me, and I told her that ... that ..." he couldn't seem to be able to get the words out, "that I didn't need help from a filthy ... little .... Mudblood." He barely got out the last three words.

I sighed. "Oh, Sev, now you've lost your best friend. You know, she'll never forgive you now. I've talked to her, she hasn't trusted you nearly as much anymore because you hang out with Nott and all the other people obsessed with my father and the Dark Arts. And that's been for a while now."

"What have I done," he moaned.

"Given up your ticket to salvation for my father's ridiculously devoted cult of black-robed, masked dogs." I've always been a cynic, and now I really wished that I knew how to comfort people. I suppose that just doesn't run in the genes. When I have an ulterior motive, suddenly I know just what to do to manipulate people's emotions.

"Oh, you're ever the cynic, aren't you, Lyssa? Could you, for once, at least try to be sympathetic? I know, I know, it's hard for you, but I do need somebody to moan and groan to."

"I'm sorry, Sev. I really should try harder. How about this: Severus Snape, do you know what you have done to your life? Yes, you've just snubbed the greatest love of your life, but you need to pick yourself up and move on. Nothing good's going to happen if you continue to dwell on the past, and once you're all done with the five stages of grief, you'll see what I mean." I'd put on the nasal tone of a smug old lady who thinks she knows everything because of her 'ancient wisdom' but really knows nothing.

It seemed to work. He started to smile through near sobs and put on a whiny boy tone.

"But Grandma Riddle, I can't get over her. She's just too perfect!"

"Oh, but you must, young man! We have things to do today, classes to go to, teachers to make fun of, and airhead Seekers to tease!"

Sev was really laughing now. "Oh, Lyssa, you see, you can help people. Maybe you should become a sylokogist or whatever the Muggles call those shrinks." I snorted.

"Psychologist, Severus, psychologist. And just why would I want to spend my days talking to people?

"Because you're so good at it, Lyssa." Suddenly, he became serious again.

"But really, what am I going to do? I can't just go back and apologize, d'you even think she'd listen to me? Now's the time for your brutal honesty, by the way."

"She might, but I don't think so. It's definitely worth a try, but don't you go running off to her now. She's probably too upset to listen to you right now, and I wouldn't be surprised if she starts dating Potter just to spite you. Give her a chance to cool down a bit, and if I know Lily, then she might just listen, even if she doesn't forgive you. It's better for her to at least know you're sorry, even if she can't accept it." Sev winced slightly at the mention of her name.

That night, he waited in front of the Gryffindor common room for Lily. He didn't succeed, but I think that deep down, Lily always knew that he loved her, even if she couldn't love him back.