thanks for reading you guys!
I own nothing. In fact I'm missing the 4th book somehow.
Its sad, I know.
Dumbledore greets them at the entrance hall with a smile.
"Hello there you two." He waves them over to him.
"Hello, headmaster." Lily fidgets nervously under his gaze.
"Don't worry, Ms. Evans. Due to the unusual circumstances, I will overlook your recent absence." Lily visibly relaxes. "However.. As you are not technically students, we will have to make accommodations for you off school grounds." He began to walk as he talks to them and they follow closely.
"That seems fair. Where were you thinking of putting us?" Severus asks.
"I have had words with my brother about him putting you up for as long as needed and he has graciously agreed." His tone held a hint of annoyance, though Severus might have imagined it.
"Hagrid, if you would move the trunks to my brothers I would greatly appreciate it." Hagrid huffed and set back off outside.
"Let's head to my office to discuss things."
They make their way to the griffin statue that marks the entrance to the headmasters office and after mumbling something Severus can't hear, Dumbledore ushers them inside. After sitting in his high back chair behind a solid oak desk, he gestures for them to sit in front of him.
"So. I have enough information to assume the locations of the ring and the diadem, though where in the castle is still a mystery unfortunately. Since my last letter I believe I have also found the locket. I uncovered an article from the orphanage young Tom lived in and it points at a cave nearby. This cup however eludes me." Severus frowns as he takes in all the information Dumbledore has to offer.
"I think maybe I should study with the Divination teacher, sir." Severus can't imagine going through more premonitions like the last. But he isn't going to sit idly by, twiddling his thumbs. "Perhaps if I learn to channel it, I can see its location."
"Divination isn't an exact art. It could take months for you to have another vision. I will however ask Ms. Trelawney to teach you during her free period."
Lily had been listening silently to their exchange but interjected then. "I would also like something headmaster, if I may. I want access to the library so I can look up where to find acromantulas. It's on our list of ingredients." Dumbledore nods and seems to ponder for a moment.
"You'll have to have someone with you on school grounds. I believe Mr. Potter will do nicely."
Severus stands before he can think it through and slams his hands flat on Dumbledore's desk. The noise echoes in the sudden silence. "Anyone but him!" His voice is little more than a growl and Dumbledore arches an eyebrow at the boy.
"Any particular reason?" There is that look again, like Severus is a child hiding his misbehavior. It has always bothered him.
"No, no. forget it." He mumbles. "I'm leaving." He turns to leave and Lily catches up to him easily.
"Goodbye children. I'll send you an owl tomorrow with the details of your schedules." He waves them out, unperturbed by Severus's outburst.
"I know you don't like him Sev but he's my friend. He isn't the same guy who tormented you anymore." Lily speaks comfortingly to him but it only makes the pit growing in his stomach worse.
"I'm sure he's a perfectly model citizen." Severus snorts. "I still won't like him."
"Why won't you forgive him? He's apologized and done everything possible to earn your forgiveness." Lily continues.
"Because I won't and I don't want to talk about it anymore Lily." His tone is low and dangerous and Lily is silent the remainder of their walk to the small town of Hogsmeade. Severus is too wrapped up in his own problems to notice. She would be spending hours with him. Things have taken a bleak turn indeed.
Aberforth Dumbledore was a strange man to say the least. His home was filled with anything and everything to do with goats. Goat statues, goat books, actual live goats..
"You must be the kids Albus charged me with." He sneers at them, not offering them a hand in greeting or a smile. "Your room is that way, the bathroom is the second on the left, and I don't expect to be disturbed." He grunts this at them before heading through a door and slamming it closed.
"I can see the family resemblance." Lily mutters.
Their bags sat next to the door, a goat munching on a loose tag. Severus shoos it away and grabs both of their trunks.
"I can carry my own trunk!" Lily tries to grab the handle from him but he swings it away.
"Come on Lil. You can barely open the lid on a pickle jar. Just grab those there, I've got these." She rolls her eyes but grabs the smaller two that were mostly her clothes before following him.
"A-are we meant to share?" The room was more like a small closet than a place for two people to sleep. Two beds had been thrown on the floor with blankets and pillows placed on a chair in the corner. You couldn't fit anything else if you tried.
"Is he serious?" Lily's voice shoots up several octaves and despite his glum mood from seconds before Severus finds himself laughing at her.
"He doesn't seem the kind of man to make jokes Lil." Severus presses their trunks into the small space and pulls one mattress as far from the other as possible. He pulls their trunks in between them like a wall. "There. Now you don't have to worry about it."
"That's not what I was worried about." She frowns and blushes. "Where are we to put our clothes? Or our beakers? There's barely room for one person in here!" She puffs out her cheeks and waves her hands around in her anger. Severus can't help but imagine an angry chipmunk. A very cute, angry chipmunk. He hides his face with a hand, laughing at her antics.
"We still have an hour of daylight left , Lil. You want to wander the town?" Severus asks.
"Your just trying to distract me. But fine lets go." Lily sighs and looks dejectedly at the room one last time before they leave. Hogsmeade turns out to be a lot bigger than they originally thought. They even had a joke shop filled with all types of candy and gizmos. They wander around together, getting to know their surroundings. As the sun begins to set, Lily shivers. Severus sees several jackets in a window as they pass and stops, Lily slowing to see what caught his eye.
"Come on let's get you a better jacket." He pulls her into the warmth of the shop.
"The one I have is fine Sev. We can't afford it." Lily protests but he ignores her. He finds a dark brown button down with tan fur sticking out from the hood and grabs it, not bothering to look at the price. The clerk rings them up, eyeing a still protesting Lily in amusement.
"You lucky to have such a good boyfriend, this is high end." Lily goes silent behind him and he flushes when she doesn't correct the clerk. He pays her and they head back out into the street.
"So, where did you get the money to pay for that?" Lily asks him.
"I sold a lot of our produce from the house of course. I don't know how you didn't notice that." He smirks as Lily turns a definite shade of red.
"Well excuse me but I was busy working too." She sniffs and heads off at a swift pace. Severus catches up to her easily. After a moment of debate with himself, he grabs her hand in his as they walk. She doesn't say anything but he can see the blush hasn't faded from her face. He smiles a bit to himself, gathering his courage to ask her the question that's been on his mind since their kiss.
"Hey! Lily!" A familiar voice made his blood turn to ice in his veins.
"James!" Lily ran to her friend as he waved from a few feet away.
Severus remained where he was.
"How'd you get here? I didn't think students were allowed outside of field trips." James smirks. "We know a secret way." He gestures off down an alley and several more figures emerge. Remus, Sirius, and finally, the last and smallest: Peter Pedigrew. Snape did move then. He passed the distance in a flash, slamming full force into the small boy.
"Severus STOP." He heard Lily scream at him but he couldn't, wouldn't stop.
He punches him square in the jaw over and over, barely feeling it connect. He gets three hits in before hands are lifting Severus off of him.
"LET ME GO." He screams and pulls against whoever had him, intent on getting free, and almost succeeds before Remus begins pushing him back. "You don't understand! None of you! It's his fault! He's the reason she died!" He wasn't thinking, the words aren't registering as he throws them out.
"Calm down! Explain it and we'll listen! But we aren't going to let you kill our friend." Remus, always the voice of calm reason, tries to comfort him but he doesn't want comfort. He wants Peter Pedigrew to die. By his hands. "Let go of me!" He snarls and kicks at Remus who dodges deftly out of the way. But Severus doesn't have time to use it to his advantage. Cause suddenly he feels very tired. And passes out.
Lily holds her wand in a shaking hand.
"What is he talking about, Lil?" James lays him on the ground gently before casting a confused look at her.
"I'm not sure. He's been having visions though so I suppose it has something to do with that." A deep unsettling feeling has taken up residence in her but she smothers it down and tries her best to look nonchalant. "Help me carry him back to Aberforth's." James tells the others to carry Peter to the hospital wing and helps shoulder Severus between them. With the two of them, they manage to set him on the couch in the living room. Miraculously, no goats were present.
"Thanks, James. Sorry about all this. I'll ask him about it when he wakes up." She eyes him nervously, unsure if she had overdone it.
"It's fine Lil." He ruffles her hair in a familiar gesture and she smiles at him. "It's good to see you back. I wondered what trouble you'd gotten yourself into this time." He shakes his head with a smile.
"It does seem to follow me around doesn't it?" She sighs at the recent turn of events in her life.
"Well, just so long as you don't go disappearing on me again I guess its fine." He throws a worried glance at Severus. "Let me know what he says. I'm curious what exactly he thinks Peter will do. I better get going though, before I'm missed. Take care of yourself, Lil." He presses her into a hug that lasts just a second too long before leaving.
Lily decides to lay in the recliner across from Severus, just in case the goats were only hiding somewhere. She tries to stay awake but a quick shake alerts her to the fact she had fallen asleep.
"Wha?" She sat up quickly and bumped straight into something hard.
"Ow!" The hard object had been Severus and they tumbled to the ground, Lily clutching him. Her knees hit the floor just hard enough to make her wince but she heard a dull thud and groan as Severus hit his head.
"I'm sorry Sev! I didn't realize it was you." She sits up to make sure he is okay and meets his eyes.
"It's fine Lil. I should have known better honestly." He flashes a crooked smile at her and she realizes where they are. Her legs are straddling his hips where she had moved to check on him and her hands are knotted in his shirt. Severus seems to notice too. His face had begun to go pink and he adverts his eyes.
As soon as his eyes are elsewhere, she moved off of him mumbling another apology. His warm hand on hers stops her in her tracks.
"I don't mind." He's looking at her like she's the only thing in the world, black eyes smoldering warmly.
She looks at him and sees him. Really sees him. He has changed so much from the boy she had known a few short months ago. That boy wouldn't have done any of the things this new Severus has done. Quitting school? Fighting the dark lord? Punching someone? That wasn't her Sev. Except now it was. Her Sev is now a good guy, hellbent on protecting the world from the evils he had once claimed a part of. She isn't sure what it was that changed him but she's glad, so glad. She closes the distance between them this time, pressing her lips delicately on his in a chaste kiss.
"Thank you." She whispers in the silence that follows.
"For what?" Severus mumbles.
"For everything. I didn't know you could be this way." Severus snorts, no doubt about to argue that he was the same as always.
"Shut up and kiss me idiot." And of course he does.