Chapter Six

I reversed out of that room as quickly as I could, with Sirius on my heels. We stood in silence for a moment, and if the look on my face was anything like his then I must have looked shocked, and slightly disgusted.

"Snape?" Sirius was the first to break the silence as we strode away from the tapestry of quickly as possible. "She'd rather have Snape than James? " I rubbed my temples as we leapt up the marble staircase, taking them two at a time. "I don't know what she wants anymore to be honest." I sighed as Sirius said the password and we entered the portrait hole.

Seeing as the common room was empty, we made a beeline for the chairs nearest to the fire, but somehow they didn't seem as comfortable as usual. "He was writing to her all summer." I said, feeling no need for words. "Did you know James wrote to her?" Sirius asked, lifting his head from his hands. "A few times. He wondered if the letters had gotten lost in the post."

Casting my mind back to the summer, I remembered a small amount of letters being cast into the bin on the day before school. "I don't think they did." I say, and he releases a heavy sigh.

"If James finds out he'll go insane." Sirius says, and I nod knowingly. I opened my mouth to speak again, but there was a squeak from the hinges of the portrait hole, and footsteps and voices echoed up the hole.

"Why didn't you come to dinner, Red?" James asked Lily as they came into view. "None of your business Potter!" snapped Lily, her eyes flaming, but cheeks slightly flushed. "Come on, tell me." James badgered, poking her shoulder and reminding me of a persistent toddler.

Lily let out a small scream and stormed up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, muttering insults under her breath that I would have never expected to come from her mouth.

I raised my eyebrows at Sirius, and the gesture was returned. Sadly, James Potter's sharp eyes caught it, and he pounced on us. "Tell me why Lily's acting so strangely." He demanded, as I pushed past him to go after Lily.

I think it was the fastest I'd ever gone up the stairs, and when I pushed open the doors of our dorm, Lily was staring out the window. She spun around and glared at me. "Don't you know how to knock?"

My concern evaporated, and was replaced by anger. "I'm sorry, I wasn't aware I had to knock on the door of my own dormitory." She sneered, a sound I would usually associate with Snape, and the reason why I was here suddenly came rushing back to me. "I saw you today," I say vaguely, still standing in the doorway.

"Sadly, I saw you too." She snapped, trying to push past me. I stopped her easily. "What I mean is, I saw you and Snape."

The colour left her cheeks and she took a few steps back from me. "You can't tell anyone." She whispered, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. "I haven't," I say, padding over to my bed. "But Sirius was with me."

All of the colour that was left in her face left, and she resembled one of the ghosts that haunted the school. "No." She said quietly as she stepped back and slid onto her bed, as if in a trance. "He'll tell James, and then James will... James will hurt him."

I snorted and gave her a withering look. "Somehow I seriously doubt that. Severus Snape knows more Dark Magic than the entire seventh year combined, and they're the only ones actually allowed to learn it."

The frightened look which had consumed her face disappeared and a low growl escaped from her mouth. I had never seen her like this before. "And so what if he does? What difference does that make to him as a person?" I bit back on the urge to tell her it made him a very untrustworthy person. "He's been a better friend to me than you've ever been."

Her harsh words washed over me like a bucket of ice cold water, and I rose from my bed. I could see a hint of regret in her eyes, but it was overpowered by rage. "It may not have occurred to you," I said, trying to keep my voice calm, "That you haven't been the best of friends to me either. But to be honest, I don't care anymore. I don't care at all."

Keeping my stride powerful and my chin strong, I left the dormitory and bolted down the stairs. I could see from the looks on the faces of my fellow Gryffindors that they had heard the raised voices. Sirius rose from his chair and looked as if he was going to say something, but I was already by the portrait hole.

As soon as I was out in the corridor, conflicting emotions awoke inside of me, the two main ones being hurt and anger. How could she have chosen him over me? I was the one who was always there for her, each and every day. Even when she was obsessing over Snape in the holidays. I had been the loyal one, never leaving her side. But all of that was about to change.
In my angry storm I had reached the marble staircase, and for once I was not in the mood to slide joyfully down the banister. I marched down the marble steps, my footsteps echoing off the walls and seeming much louder than they really were. It only hit me as I reached the great hall that I realised it was past curfew.

The stars in the charmed ceiling sparkled more than I had ever seen them before, and it was such a pretty sight to behold that I stood hypnotised for a moment, my breath catching in my throat as a shooting star passed by.

I had always had a wish planned for a time like this, but for some reason I didn't even want to say anything now. I didn't even want to wish for me and Lily to be friends again, because I didn't want her back.

"Beautiful isn't it?" a voice came from behind me, and I broke out of my trance with a start. Sami Swift, the hufflepuff, was standing behind me with a small smile on her face. Somehow the little grin didn't hide the bags and the redness under her eyes which were illuminated by the moonlight.

I followed her over to the Hufflepuff table, where we slumped down onto two of the seats nearest to the door.

There was only the distant sound of other students in their common room, or a gust of wind as a ghost materialized somewhere close by. Sami seemed to be content with just gazing at the enchanted ceiling, and so was I. It relieved me from a little bit of my anger.

"I've fallen out with Mariah." Sami broke the silence first, tearing her gaze away from the sky to meet my eyes. Her bottom lip wobbled and I encased her in a hug, her tears falling onto the silky fabric of my robes.

"Why?" I asked softly, hoping it showed in my voice that she didn't have to tell me if she didn't want to. "She told Remus, she told him… that I like him." I gave a gasp of sympathy. "That's awful."

"I know," Sami said, "How could she have betrayed my trust like that?"

I exhaled. "These are questions that can't be answered." Sami nodded in agreement. "I know. Why are you down here then?" I hesitated for a moment. She had told me, I should tell her. "Lily and I had an argument, over Severus, also known as her new boyfriend."

"What?" Sami spluttered, surprised playing on her features. "I know." I nodded, thinking of his greasy hair and awful gaze. "I have no plans to apologize to her, and I don't care if she doesn't apologize to me to be honest. I've just had enough of Little Miss Perfect."