Gmorning everyone! Well, it's morning over here haha so I've decided to not update once a week…instead I will update as much as I can. I don't like to keep you guys waiting cuz I know how it feels to wait for days or even weeks for a story you're reading :\ So I will update as long as I'm ahead two chapters, which means I better start writing now :] Also, thanks for the reviews! I feel like a jerk for asking for them but it's the only way I'll know if I needa fix some stuff, get my stories straight, and hear from you guys :] So yess I will respond to your reviews at the end of each chapter!
The next morning was gray and cloudy, exactly how both Severus and Lily felt that day. Lily had spent the night telling her friends everything that happened between her and Severus. Her friends had comforted her and made mean comments towards Severus, calling him an insensitive jerk, that Lily doesn't need him, and that it was expected, him being in Slytherin, and Lily kept quiet through their "comfort". She did feel guilty that she wasn't defending Severus, but at that moment, their remarks and comments made her feel better and she wondered if Severus was right about her.
Severus had the spent the night in his bed, wiping his eyes and thinking about everything that happened. He had no friends to comfort him, no one to talk down about Lily, no one to make him feel better about what happened. All he had were his thoughts. He fell asleep to dreams about a scared little child hiding in a corner while his father beat his mother, an awkward teenager trying to escape through life at Hogwarts unnoticed and invisible, and a pair of bright, green, laughing eyes, staring adoringly at Potter. He awoke that morning with a cold stare and a pounding headache, and made his way down to the Great Hall for breakfast before lessons began.
...
"Gosh, Lily," said Mary Macdonald, Lily's best friend, "I don't know why you keep worrying yourself over that jerk. You don't need him as a friend! You don't need him at all! Now, stop this crying and eat some porridge."
"I'm not hungry, Mary" said Lily.
"But you need to eat! We have an exam in Charms, and you need to eat if you want to pass it!"
"Lily's the best in Charms, she doesn't need to worry about passing or not, she can get an O without even trying" said James, coming up behind Lily. He sat down next to her, grabbed some bacon and eggs and gave her a peck on the cheek. He noticed that her cheek was a little wet. "What's wrong, Lily? Why are you crying?" He turned to Mary when Lily didn't respond. "What happened, Mary?"
Lily looked up at Mary and begged with her eyes to not tell James, but Mary just glared at her and turned to him.
"It's that Snape-boy. He yelled at Lily for no reason last night while they were making up their potion, and left her there in tears after he was done."
"Is this true, Lily?" said James, concern etched in his face as he turned to look at Lily.
"No, no that's not what happened!" said Lily.
"Yes it is, Lily! I can't believe you're trying to defend that little piece of filth." said Mary.
"He is not a piece of filth!" cried Lily, Severus's words from last night coming back to her.
"I'm going to have a little chat with Snivellus before lessons" said James, cracking his knuckles.
"You will do no such thing!" cried Lily.
"Yeah, James, I'll take Lily to Charms, and I'll let Professor Flitwick know that you will be a little late" said Mary.
"No! James, please!" cried Lily desperately, but it seems as if neither James nor Mary were paying any attention to her cries.
"Thanks, Mary, this shouldn't take long" said James.
Everyone was standing up from their House tables to go to their first lessons of the day. James eyes scanned the crowd and found Severus, still at the Slytherin table. He waited until Severus got up and walked towards the entrance of the Great Hall. James kept close to Severus. Severus seemed to not notice that the hallway was emptying, or that his worst enemy was right behind him. Once the hall was empty, James moved forward, grabbed Severus's shoulder and turned him to face him.
"Hold on a minute, Snivellus" said James.
"Let me go, Potter, I have class" said Severus, not wanting to fight this early in the morning. His head was still pounding.
"I'm sure you can miss class for a few minute, because that's all this little meeting of ours is going to take. Now, what did you do to Lily last night while you both were in Slughorn's dungeon?"
Severus looked at James. He couldn't believe that Lily told James about their conversation, but from what it looked like, James didn't know everything, especially the emotional details about Severus's life.
"I didn't do anything to her," said Severus calmly, "we had a conversation, we argued, we left. Nothing else. Just because Lily can't take the truth being thrown at her–"
"Don't you talk about Lily that way" growled James. He grabbed Severus from the front of his robes. Severus was slightly taller than James, so this did not have the affect James wanted. "Lily is the greatest person in the world, she's the most kindest, generous, sweetest–"
"Then you don't really know Lily Evans that well, do you, Potter, at least, not the Lily Evans I know. She's the most unforgiving, self-absorbed, arrogant – "
James threw a punch to Severus's face, and Severus went flying to the wall, a busted lip causing blood to fall from his mouth. James went over to Severus and picked him up.
"You take that back! Take it back, you ungrateful piece of crap!" shouted James.
"I won't!" spat Severus. "It's true, just because you can't handle it–"
"Severus!"
Both the boys turned to look, and at the end of the hall was Lily. She ran towards both of them, taking in James, red in the face, and Severus, in James' clutches, blood flowing from his lip.
"James! James, let him go! Please!" cried Lily, trying to pull James's arms off of Severus.
"He insulted you, Lily! And made you cry! I won't let him get away with it!"
"You had to tell everyone about our conversation, didn't you, Lily? You had to make me look like the villain, the one that hurt you, to make you look like the victim. I'm not surprised" said Severus.
"SHUT UP!" shouted James, "SHUT UP AND TAKE BACK EVERYTHING YOU SAID ABOUT LI–"
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"
Professor McGonnagal came out of the Transfiguration classroom and took in the scene in front of her: James, holding Severus up by the front of his robes; Severus, bleeding from his face; and Lily, red in the face from crying. Her mouth thinned into the straightest line either of them has ever seen. "You three, follow me."
She led them down the hall to a corridor with a lone gargoyle standing in the middle. Professor McGonnagal turned to face the wall, spread out her hands and said, "Sugar Quills".
At once the wall opened up to reveal a spiraling staircase. All four of them stood on the staircase, which immediately began moving upward like an escalator. When they reached the top, Professor McGonnagal knocked on the door. A voice yelled, "Enter" and Professor McGonnagal turned the doorknob and opened the door to reveal the Headmaster's study. The portraits of previous Headmasters and Headmistresses were sleeping soundly in their portraits, and the portrait of the previous Headmaster, Armando Dippet, snored lightly over the desk where their recent Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, sat.
Professor Dumblore looked at the scene in front of him, leaned back in his chair, and sighed. "Already starting problems this early in the morning, Mr. Potter?"
"Professor, I was only trying to defend Lily's honor from Snape" said James in a rush.
"I see, and, Mr. Snape, pray tell what have you done to disgrace the honor of Lily Evans and deserve that split lip that came from the hands of Mr. Potter, am I correct?"
Severus looked anywhere but at Dumbledore. He's had the feeling before that Dumbledore knew Legilimency, and was probably attempting to enter his mind now. Looking down at his worn out shoes, he answered. "I have done nothing. I was just going to my lessons when Potter came up behind me, began to yell at me, and punched me in the face. Then Evans came and tried to get him off me. That's what happened."
James opened his mouth to retort, but Dumbledore held up his hand to silence him. He turned to face Lily. "I see. Now, what did Mr. Snape do to disgrace your honor, Ms. Evans?"
Lily turned red at being addressed by the Headmaster. She looked down at the ground as well. "Well, last night, when Severus and I were making up our potion for Professor Slughorn, we began to argue. We said some things to each other, and then we left. I did not like what he said to me, but they were true, I confided in my friend, Mary MacDonald, and then this morning James found out, and he went to find Severus. I decided to go and stop him, so I left class with the excuse that I was going to the bathroom, and found James and Severus." She hoped that Dumbledore would not ask what they had argued about, but Dumbledore just stared at Lily, and Lily found that she could not look away. Finally, Dumbledore nodded, and turned back to the three of them.
"Well, I can see there are many holes in this story, but I will not question this any farther. Mr. Potter, you know there is no tolerance for violence, even if it was to defend someone's honor. I believe a months worth of detention every evening would be acceptable."
"But Professor" said James, "I have Quidditch practice every evening! And we have a match against Ravenclaw in two weeks! I need to train if we want Gryffiindor to stay in the running for the Quidditch Cup! The season's barely started!"
"Er, Headmaster, I believe your punishment for Mr. Potter is well deserved, but could you at least allow him to play the match? There is no need to punish the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team for Mr. Potter's extreme foolishness" said Professor McGonnagal, to everyone's surprise. Everyone turned to look at her. She kept her stern posture, but she looked to Dumbledore with hope.
Dumbledore looked at James again, and sighed. "I believe we can let you off your detention for the Quidditch match, but I want you to report to Professor Filch every night at 8 for your detention. He will give you your punishments for those nights. Ms. Evans, I believe a week's night of detentions would be appropriate. Despite the fact that you planned to prevent Mr. Potter from doing any harm to Mr. Snape, you still left your lesson and lied to Professor Flitwick." Lily looked down, ashamed, and nodded her head, accepting her punishment.
"As for you, Mr. Snape–"
"Er, Professor, Severus had nothing to do with any of this. James prevented Severus from going to his lessons. This was not his fault" said Lily. Everyone looked at her, surprised. James looked outrage that she was preventing Snape from receiving detention, while Severus merely glanced at her with a slightly surprised look on his face. Dumbledore smiled at her.
"Well, Mr. Snape, it seems that there will be no punishment for you, seeing as how Ms. Evans is correct. Now, off to class, all of you. Mr. Potter, I expect you to be with Mr. Filch this evening, and I expect Mr. Flitwick to be receiving you tonight, Mr. Evans. Off you go now." And with that, James, Lily, and Severus left the study. Professor McGonnagal stayed behind to discuss something with Dumbledore, which left James, Lily, and Severus to walk down the corridor alone, Severus walking a little ahead of them. James was the first to break the silence.
"How could you defend the greaseball, Lily? You and I both have detention, unfair ones at that, and you tell Dumbledore to not punish Snivell–"
"Do not call him that, James" said Lily fiercely. "Sev had nothing to do with any of this! This was none of your business, but of course, it gave you an opportunity to beat up Sev, so you made it your business. I'm glad Sev doesn't have detention. He doesn't deserve it."
"And you think we do?" asked James incredulously.
"Yes, I think we do, especially you, James. You had no right to punch Sev. I'm just glad he's not severely hurt!"
"Yes, if a busted lip and bleeding freely from the mouth is not being severely hurt, then I'm completely fine" muttered Severus.
"No one's talking to you, Snivellus!" retorted James.
"James! Stop it! You go on to Charms, I want to talk to Sev alone, please" said Lily. James looked at her, and then looked at Severus, then back again. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Growling loudly, he left for Charms, leaving Lily alone in the corridor with Severus, who continued to walk.
"Sev, wait, please" said Lily, running to keep up with Severus.
Exasperated, Severus stopped to look at her. "What do you want, Evans? I have class to get to." And then, surprisingly, Lily hugged him, hard. Severus stood frozen, but then relaxed a little.
"Sev," said Lily, her voice being muffled by Severus's cloak, "please, you were completely right, about everything. I am an arrogant, self-absorbed jerk. I'm almost as bad as James, no, I'm worse, because I hurt my best friend. Can you please, please forgive me? Even a little?"
Severus didn't respond for a good minute. Lily was losing what little hope she had left. She let go of Severus, tears falling from her eyes, and turned to go to Charms, when Severus's voice stopped her.
"Thanks, Lily, for not letting Dumbledore give me detention."
Lily turned around and found Severus smiling at her. She ran to him, tackling him in a hug, which he returned.
"Does this mean you forgive me, Sev?" asked Lily.
"Yes, Lily, I do, and I am assuming you've forgiven me, am I right?"
"Yes, Sev, I forgive you, I'm so sorry for everything that happened between us. I never realized how much I missed my best friend."
"Me too, Lily, me too." Everything felt right at that moment. Severus's was the happiest he's ever been in a long time.
"What's going on over here?"
Severus and Lily broke apart. Professor McGonnagal came strolling down corridor, her usual stern look on her face. "Evans! You're supposed to be in your Charms lesson right now. Off you go before you get another week's detention for missing class. Snape! Your face is a mess of blood and your lip is still ripped. I suggest you go to the Hospital Wing so Madam Pomfrey can fix you up. Any work you miss you will have to make up tonight after dinner, but this shouldn't take too long. Off now! Go!"
And with that, Lily headed off to the other direction to Charms, while Severus went back down the corridor to the Hospital Wing. Before they turned the corner, they both looked back at each other and smiled. Nothing can bring them down, now that they were best friends again, but no one saw the pair of hazel eyes shining behind a pair of glasses, bright with anger and determination.
The end of a chapter! Ooohh I wonder who those mysterious hazel eyes belong too *wink wink* And don't worry you Lily haters, I'll make her suffer some more and make her look bad in future chapters…and for you Lily/Snape lovers, no worries! I won't end this badly for them…KEEP YOUR HOPES UP! :] ooh I better not spoil anymore ;]
*Amaterasu-Black Flame: Yeah same here I mean yeah people can change and James probably did but I would find it hard to forgive someone who repeatedly harassed my best friend for years :\ And my sister says thank you :] Also, I took your advice and un-disabled the reviews thingy lol
*duj: I see you've put a lot of thought into this…that's awesome! I completely agree with you on everything and yeah I know he probably wouldn't have straight up dissed her but I was feeling angry at the time I was writing this and kinda sorta took it out on Lily through Snape, but yeah he had every right to.
*Nimidius: Yeah exactly, I mean she couldn't forgive him for one word he called her (even though it was a…nice word) but she can date a guy who tortures her best friend…lol well I already have the next chapter written and things change but no worries I will definitely make her suffer more…I'm not finished with her punishment yet :]
*Eclaire Stones: Thanks for being my first reviewer! :] I just realized I went backwards with my reviews…sorry!
