A/N: Hey, all! Thanks for reading, PLEASE review! Thanks to my one reviewer so far, Ginevra1988.

I don't own this, wish I did (don't we all?). Fair warning, I did write this story before reading the final HP book, so the Snape presented here might not fit perfectly with what we now know of him, but I hope you can appreciate this just the same. Enjoy!

Chapter 4

As they walked down the corridors, they saw Severus Snape with his head bent down over a thick, black leather-bound book. His greasy hair was curtained over his face and his prominent nose less than an inch from the page. Normally, James would have taken this chance to practice some spells on Snape, or as he and his friends called him, Snivellus. James wasn't really a bully, but Snivellus was constantly studying dark magic, which James couldn't stand.

But today, he knew Lily needed him, and he was fully ready to let Snivellus walk past without remark. Snape, however, had a different idea. He couldn't stand captain-of-the-Quidditch-team, Mr. Popularity, top-grades-in-the-class James Potter. At one time, he and Lily had been close friends, but that friendship faded with Severus's fascination with the dark arts. Since the day Lily had said she could no longer be friends with someone so preoccupied with evil, and who hated muggle-borns, Severus has been angry and resentful toward her, taking any chance he can find to hurt her as he has been hurt.

"Ah, look at that! The little mudblood has finally decided to go with Potty! Isn't that sweet? What changed your mind, Mudblood? Wanted to be part of a real wizard family? Potty's is one of the few who'll let muggle-borns in, guess he was your last option, huh?" Snape sneered at her, willing her to break down and cry, but she just stood there, her eyes staring forward, but seeing nothing.

James, however, couldn't just stand there. As much as he wanted to stay calm for Lily's sake, Snape had crossed the line the minute he opened his mouth, and it was about then when James drew his wand from his pocket.

"Back off, Snivellus! Just leave her alone!"

"So you're the Mudblood's protector, huh? What are you gonna do, Potty?"

"I'm warning you!" James shouted.

Lily looked into Snape's eyes with a cold unblinking stare until he flinched under her unwavering gaze. "You know, Severus, it's people like you, with you superiority complexes and ignorant mind-sets and who think that they're better than everyone else just because their families have interbred for centuries so that they're "pure", well, it's people like you who are the reason my parents are dead. Now, if you don't care, I'm going to my room, excuse me." And with that, she took James' hand and walked quickly past the stunned Severus Snape and towards the Gryffindor common room.

"Are you okay?" asked James as they walked down the empty corridors, still rather stunned from her outburst with Snivellus. Not only was it unusual for Lily Evens to lose her temper, but that was also the first person she'd told about her parents, aside from Professor Dumbledore and himself. 'Oh, well,' he thought, 'Snivellus definitely deserved to be shouted at, if not a bit more than that.' Still, he was concerned about how Lily was feeling; she hadn't said a word for the past five minutes as they walked toward the common room.

"Fine. I'm fine. Well, not fine, but you know." Lily answered. "I don't have the patience for the git, you know." She was silent again and quickened her step. "I'll just and to go pack and leave as soon as possible."

"Alright," said James, unsure of whether she wanted him to talk or not. He decided it was probably best if he just listened to whatever she needed to say, and then he could talk if he felt like he should, or if she wanted him to.

Lily stopped suddenly, a strange, sad expression on her face. She turned to face James and said, "Thank you, you know, for offering to go with me. But I know you've got a lot of thing going on right now, the Quidditch finals coming up and all, and you don't have to come. I'll be alright. I don't want you to feel like you have to come or anything, and, well, McGonagall's counting on you." She turned away, trying to hide the film of tears that were covering her eyes.

"Lily, do you really think that Quidditch is more important to me than you?" he asked incredulously. He turned her to face him, wiped the tears that had begun to fall, and looked into her bright green eyes, so beautiful even in their sorrow. "You mean everything to me, and I'm not going to leave you when you need someone the most just for some game. And I hope that that someone you need is me, because I really want to be there for you, okay? I didn't ask Dumbledore to go with you because I feel sorry for you, I asked him because I want to be the one you know you can turn to, I want to be the one who protects you, and comforts you, and makes you laugh when you want to laugh, and holds you when you need to cry. Please don't ever think I'm here out of pity or anything like that. I'm here because I want to be; I'm here because I love you."

Lily couldn't say a thing; her throat was too tight from the tears welling up in her eyes. But she nodded her head in silent gratitude and gave James a sad and grateful smile. She pulled his arm around her waist, finding comfort in its strength and warmth, and they continued down the corridor. Where icy cold blackness had enveloped her heart when she had read the letter, a small glow of warmth was burning. The assurance James had given her was enough to give her hope. It would be a long time before the warmth overcame the cold darkness, and the pain of losing her parents would never go away, but this little bit of light would keep her going, and James' love would help her through many dark days.