The next day at breakfast, Lily was a mess. Her hair had been pulled up into a rough ponytail and she wore sweats under the basic Hogwarts over-robe. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy bags were beneath them. She didn't touch the food piled upon her plate, but instead pored over another textbook. Anybody who cared enough to watch could have seen that her eyes weren't moving over the text. In fact, they were straining towards her left, trying to see if James was acting normally.

'Look, James, look over at me like you do every day,' she thought wistfully. But he didn't. He seemed to be perfectly normal; he was laughing and joking with his friends.

'Oh, don't be silly, Lily,' she chastised herself. 'He'll be over here before you know it, begging for your forgiveness and another chance at a date and you'll be sorry you wanted his attention again!' But James never came.

The bell rang, and Lily jumped nervously. She was tense and on-edge.

"Lily, honey, what's wrong?" It was Dorcas Johnson, another Gryffindor seventh year and one of Lily's closest friends. She would be joining Lily in Potions for first period, so the pair began walking briskly down to the dungeons.

"Nothing, Dorcas…it's just, well, James, really." She sighed exasperatedly.

Dorcas's eyes widened. "What's wrong with James? You hate him, since when do you have James problems?"

"Since last night. We didn't make up after our disastrous date, and since then…well he's not been himself. It's like he's…moved on." It felt so good to talk that Lily kept doing it. "I've been so stupid, Dorcas. I should have known…how long would James wait for me? I've spent all these years making him chase me, and well…I think I've grown to like him, maybe even love him. But once I started to understand that, James just gave up. It's like he's decided I'm not worth the chase." Lily shook her head in disbelief at her own words.

Dorcas frowned. "Lily, what are you talking about? You hate James. You shouldn't care if he's ignoring you; thank the stars that he's leaving you alone for once!"

Suddenly, the object of their conversation walked by. Lily's eyes followed him as he passed, expecting a smile, or at least a nod of acknowledgement, but instead, James waved his wand and extended the conjured flower to Dorcas.

Dorcas blushed. "Why, thank you James," before pushing past Lily into the Potions classroom where Professor Slughorn waited.

James smirked at Lily. Lily gaped. "What was that for?"

James smiled innocently. "My girlfriend has to have flowers, doesn't she?"

"Your-" Lily was stunned.

"Girlfriend, yes, now if you'll excuse me, I have patrolling to do." James pushed past her and continued down the corridor.

Lily looked at where Professor Slughorn's open door awaited, but then decided she could think up an excuse for tardiness later. She chased James, until she managed to corner him outside the Great Hall. "What the bloody hell was that all about?"

James smirked. "Dorcas is my girlfriend, Lily. Didn't you know?"

Lily blushed. "Excuse me? I was on a date with you yesterday, you idiot, and today you're dating Dorcas?"

"Uh, yeah, I think that is about right." James was interrupted by another voice.

"Potter, Evans, may I ask why you two are both out of class?" It was Snape, sneering coldly. Lily was suddenly struck with a brilliant, but cold, trick.

James's eyes narrowed, but Lily smiled sweetly, walking towards him. "Ah, Severus, here you are. I was wondering when you'd turn up to walk me to class." She slipped her hand in Severus's own.

Snape's eyes were giving her lie away, as he looked at her questioningly, so she lightly stepped on his foot to shut him up. "Alright, Lily, if you're finished talking with Potter…" Snape had brilliantly recovered himself and was now working with her to cover up the lie.

James's eyes narrowed suspiciously, which Lily was very happy to see. "Yes, Severus, I'm done. Goodbye, James."

She walked hand-in-hand with Severus down three flights of stairs, across five corridors, and into a spare classroom with the door closed before she finally allowed him to ask questions.

"Evans, what in the name of Merlin was that?" Snape crossed his arms and sat down on a spare desk.

Lily sighed. This wouldn't be easy, but she needed to pull this off. "Potter," she hissed scathingly. "He tricked me into a date, and then abandoned me to go and hex you. Last night he wrote me a love letter apologizing, and this morning, he decided to ask my best friend out."

Severus smirked. "Your golden boy isn't so golden after all, isn't he?"

Lily cringed inwardly at what she was about to say, but she had to do it anyway. "Oh, he never was golden," she laughed maliciously, before tossing her red hair over her shoulder. Her hair was her best feature, second only to her eyes, and she saw (with satisfaction) that Severus's eyes followed the flame-colored strands as they settled behind her shoulder. She strode next to the desk where he sat, standing softly at his side.

"And so you needed my help?" Severus seemed highly amused at this.

"Well," she murmured, her finger twirling a lock of her hair. "The truth is, Severus, I really like you." Lily dropped her gaze to the ground, but continued to softly twirl her hair

Lily felt Severus's eyes on her. Apparently, he was sensing her lie… "I really, really do," she whispered softly, pushing every ounce of truth she had into her words.

Suddenly, Severus's hand tilted her chin up to look at him. "Lily, I won't let James will hurt you ever again," he murmured softly, before gently kissing her.

'Brilliant,' Lily thought.