Chapter 4

Severus shut the door and looked at Lily. "I'd offer you a tour, but there's not much to see. I'll just take you downstairs; you'll stay in my room."

He was feeling awkward again. She was used to nice things and this shack was so far from nice. He tried no to let himself think about what her stay would have been like if she'd made it to Potter's. He closed his eyes briefly and forced that thought from his head. He would not think about him right now.

Lily had been trying to be nice, so he tried to return the favor, cracking a rare smile, he held out his hand. "May I take your bags madam?"

Lily laughed. It was a beautiful sound. She pulled the tiny trunks from the pocket of her jeans and dropped them in his hand. He found the small handles and did his best imitation of his guess of a butler. "Right this way."

He wasn't as embarrassed by his room as he was the rest of the house. He'd been given the basement level and a few old pieces of furniture, a dresser, a bed, a couch, a radio, a bookshelf, a desk, all pieces that Tobias had been ready to throw out but Snape had taken them to the basement. Because of his trace, he'd been careful to practice minor spells and only when his mother was home and Tobias was not, but eventually, he'd used minor magic to repair broken pieces, change paint colors, or generally spruce up the pieces. There were more complicated spells that could make the furniture look as though it had appeared from a palace, but that would be horribly out of place and he had a feeling seeing it in the basement of this place would only make him more depressed.

For now, he was content with the flat like appearance he'd given the room, but suddenly he was apprehensive. As far as he knew, Lily was the first person to ever see his handiwork. He'd put a Muggle repelling charm on the staircase so anytime Tobias started to come down the stairs, he forgot what he'd wanted. It hadn't taken long for him to adjust and just bellow for Severus from the upper floor. Eileen had wanted him to have a more grown up space and she tried to respect that, as far as Severus knew, she'd never been down here either.

With his hands behind his back, he paused and allowed Lily to pass.

She looked around the space. "Did you transfigure all of this?"

Of course she'd notice right away, the space was very different from the rest of the house.

He nodded slowly, pressing his lips together, waiting for her judgment. "This is impressive Sev. I remember that couch."

He looked at the piece in confusion. When had she seen it before?

Lily smiled gently and walked over to the piece and sat down. "I remember watching the day they moved in. Petunia was sick so I was outside by myself. We couldn't have been more than six or seven at the time. I remember watching you and I wanted to come see if you wanted to play but then one of the movers—"

"Tripped over one of my toys and Tobias threw it away and started yell," Severus finished dryly.

Lily nodded. "Doesn't seem like much has changed."

"No, he still doesn't like anything." His words were hollow sounding but he didn't know what else to tell her. He certainly didn't want to discuss Tobias any longer.

"I want to thank you for offering me a place to stay. After everything that…well…no one would have blamed you if you hadn't."

Severus leaned back against the wall and ran his fingers through his hair. "Seemed like the right thing to do."

Lily smiled then glanced around the room. "Do you have an owl?"

That's right, she was going to write to McGonagall. He shook his head. "Tobias doesn't exactly approve of magic or anything that reminds him of it. I usually use the school owls if I need one and even then I send it to Mom at work."

"Oh," Lily said, frowning. "I guess I'll go to Diagon Alley tomorrow, or I could see about getting a room in Hogsmead—"

"I'll go with you," he said quickly. "And you can stay here as long as you need. They'll be gone for days." Before she could argue or say something to the contrary, he stood up. "I'll be upstairs, help yourself to anything you need. I'll be back in a little bit."

Lily stood up and stretched, she really couldn't believe she was here. She couldn't believe her family was just down the road and she wasn't welcome to see them. Well, not the entire family, just her sister and Vernon. It hadn't been worth even trying to be under the same roof with them. She couldn't believe that she'd gotten into another fight with James. She really did care about him, but sometimes he was just so infuriating.

He was intelligent but he didn't work to his full potential. He usually did just what he needed to pass a class.

That had been what had started their whole fight. She had been telling him that she wanted at least two hours a day for studying for their N.E.W.T. exams and he'd laughed at her. He'd said they weren't that important and she should learn to relax. Then he made a remark about people who spent all their time in dungeons studying and how they'd have nothing to show for it.

Though she still had trouble dealing with the fact that her best friend had announced to a courtyard full of people what he'd really thought about her, she just couldn't handle James mocking him all the time. Until today, she hadn't had a kind thought about Severus, but she had a reason.

Severus had taken her number one insecurity, the thing he knew she often hated most about herself, and he's thrown it in her face when she'd been trying to help him. It wasn't just the name. Sure, James and his crew thought that that was what had done it, but it's started before that. She couldn't stand watching Severus become more and more sullen and he stuck closer and closer to people like Lucius, Avery, Mulciber and the others. There were stories about the older ones meeting up with people in Hogsmead and every time she saw him with that crowd in the small village it felt like someone was ripping away a small piece of her soul. When she was with Severus in the hallway and one of his friends saw them, they would say awful things. Severus always tried to shut them up, but the comments were derogatory and always made her feel like she needed a bath.

Then there was that day. The disgust on his face and in his voice. She'd felt something snap inside of her. Gone was the gentle, shy—and yet damaged—boy that had worked to explain their world to her. Gone was the boy who seemed to cling to her as though looking for just a ray of hope. Her friend had been replaced with some who was consumed with this hatred for Muggles and apparently for who she really was.

Lily pulled her trunks from her pocket and brought them back to full size.

On the train there had been moments, brief flashes of the boy she used to know.

What if she didn't go back to school? What if she stayed with him and reminded him who he really was? Would she be able to convince him to turn away from what he was doing?

Would she be able to make him back into hers?

Thanks to those who review! I love writing, but I also love the push knowing that people are reading and reacting to what they've read!

Alethea27 - some this will be very nice, others are going to test them in ways they didn't expect…

Inphemera – just wait!