Lily was running as fast as she possibly could towards the shelter of Hogwarts. She was engaged in a heated battle, and was just about ready to admit defeat. Her last hope was to make it to the Entrance Hall, where she could recuperate for a few minutes before re- entering the fray.

She heard footsteps behind her and doubled her pace, praying not to get hit. She hated losing. Lily's breath hitched- the footsteps were getting closer. She pushed her pace to the limit, and was almost to the safety of the school when-

"Ha! Got you!" Lily wiped the remnants of Severus' snowball from her arm and shot him an annoyed glare.

"You think you're so brilliant," she said.

"I don't think," he corrected, "I know."

"Know what?" she teased. Severus shook his head and laughed.

"Well, if it's any consolation, white hair suits you," he snickered. Lily shook the snow from her hair, laughing.

"Guess that means I'll age gracefully, then," she quipped. Snape bent down to construct another snowball, but Lily beat him to the chase.

"Ha! Who's the victor now, Sev?" she laughed, having tackled him to the ground.

"Hardy fair!" he mock- complained. "I threw a few snowballs at you, you've knocked me over!"

"That's what you get for picking on girls, Severus Snape!" she laughed.

"You will pay," he assured her.

"I highly doubt that."

"Oh yeah?" Snape flipped over so that Lily was pinned beneath him and threw some snow into her face. She let out a small shriek and mashed some snow into his.

"Bloody hell! That's cold!" he shrieked, brushing his face off.

"That's what you get!"

"You're a sore loser." Severus grinned down at Lily, who stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed heartily, sticking his tongue back at her.

"Hey, Sev, wanna get off me now?" Lily laughed, pushing playfully against him. Severus blushed a deep red and was beginning to move off her when he was suddenly thrown to the side rather forcefully.

"Whoa, Lil, I was getting off you!" Severus said angrily. "Why did you push me?"

"I- I didn't," Lily said, just as confused. "It wasn't me." That's when they both noticed James Potter watching from the school doors, wand drawn, an uninterpretable expression on his face. "Oh," Lily said quietly.

Severus felt a surge of anger at James' interference, and shot a well- aimed Tripping Jinx his way. Much to his amusement, James instantly fell over, looking ridiculous. Severus let out a hearty laugh.

"Why'd you do that, Sev?" Lily asked, offering Severus her hand and pulling him up. "All he did was pull you off me. I couldn't breathe, technically speaking he helped me."

"Why are you defending him?" Severus shot back, hurt by Lily's betrayal. "I was getting off you, you know that!"

"Yeah, well," Lily trailed off. "Look, Sev, we need to talk." Severus did not like her tone of voice. What had started out as an innocent snowball fight was taking a turn for the worse, and far too soon.

"What about?" he asked cautiously.

"Well," Lily said nervously, "I just wanted to say that- that you're my best mate, and I love you to death, but I don't love you like... that."

Severus had already known this, but his heart was breaking all over again to hear it from her. "I- I know that, Lil," he assured her. "I never thought you did."

"Oh," Lily said quickly. "Okay, then. I just wanted to... to clear that up." Severus nodded mutely, and the two stood staring awkwardly at their feet for a few minutes. "I should go now," Lily said suddenly. "I've got some homework to do."

"Going to the library?" Severus asked. "Because I've got some, too. We could help each other out."

"No," Lily said, "I'm going back to my dormitory. I can't take any distraction, and there'll be others in the library." It was a bad excuse and they both knew it. "Plus, I need to talk to Mary later on. Reckon she'll show up at the dormitory at some point."

"Yeah, she probably will," Severus agreed. "We'd better head in, then." In awkward silence the two walked side- by- side into Hogwarts and went their separate ways.

Lily sprinted up to the common room, only to find that she couldn't concentrate on homework. The image of Severus' wounded face was all she could think about. With a frustrated sigh she slammed her Herbology textbook closed and headed for her dormitory, praying a nap would clear her thoughts.

"Hey there, Lily," Mary MacDonald greeted upon her entry.

"Hey, Mary," Lily replied, sounding exhausted.

Mary was instantly suspicious of Lily's tone of voice. "What's wrong?" she asked, taking a seat next to Lily. "What happened? Was it James Potter again?"

"No," Lily sighed. "It's Severus. He's my best mate, and I love him like a brother, but it's just never enough for him." Mary nodded understandingly.

"Go on," she said. "Let it all out."

"And he tries not to pressure me to fancy him or anything, but every time we talk, it's like there's always this thing dividing us because he fancies me and I don't exactly..."

"Reciprocate the feeling?" Marry offered.

"Yeah, exactly." Lily flopped back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. "And I just don't know how to deal with that. I've known Sev forever, since before Hogwarts even, and I just feel like if he doesn't stop fancying me it'll ruin our friendship."

"Look, Lily, I'm going to be honest with you," Mary said. Lily looked at her, curious. "I don't really understand your relationship with Severus."

"What don't you understand?"

"It's just... He's a Slytherin, you know? He calls all Muggleborns 'Mudbloods'-"

"He doesn't call me that," Lily pointed out.

"No, maybe not," Mary acknowledged, "but he calls every other Muggleborn in the school that awful name. And he messes around with Dark Magic with all his Slytherin mates, and draws the Dark Mark on all his notes and textbooks... I just don't get it," Mary said. "I mean, yeah, he's your best mate, but he's practically a Death Eater already. The only person he's decent to is you."

Lily was speechless. Mary was right, of course, Severus did all those things and more. But he wasn't a bad person, Lily knew that much. If it weren't for his House and the family he'd been born into, he'd be better.

"I- I know," Lily said quietly. "But somehow I forgive him for those things, because he's... not like that. Not really."

"I know," Mary said, "I'm just telling you what I- and the rest of the school- think about your friendship with him." Lily nodded mutely.

"Thanks for telling me," she said, a note of finality in her voice.

"No problem," Mary answered. "I've got to get going now, though. James Potter said he'd help me with my Transfiguration homework. He's really good at Transfiguration, you know." Lily nodded again. She knew.

Mary smiled weakly and headed for the door, leaving Lily alone with her thoughts.