So, this chapter came out longer than I expected. I was actually going to pair it with another chapter, but then it would be huge so I decided to split it up. Anyways, so this takes place in the beginning of second year. Sorry I'm going a tad fast through the first few years, but I have more juicy things that will be going on in fourth (maybe third?) year and up so stay tuned! Yeah, so this chapter is kind of just showing how Lily and Sev's relationship started to get rough and how the fallout was just numerous things piling on top of eachother. Well, I hope you enjoy and keep reading! Thanks! x

~7~

The rest of my first year passed just as quickly as it had come, and soon enough, I was on the train ride home with Lily talking about how boring our summers would be in comparison to the never ending excitement at Hogwarts.

My summer days were spent reading out in the shade from the hot sun, for fear of my pale skin burning. As I no longer had the luxury of library books at school, I decided to dig into my mother's old school books, laying aside my first year ones. I was especially interested in her old dark art books, but unfortunately being underage, I couldn't practice any of the spells in them. Instead, I just tried putting all the incantations to memory and all the effects they would have. By the end of the summer, I had read up to her seventh year Defense Against the Dark Arts Book and memorized every spell, hex, jinx, and counter curse that they all contained.

I had just started moving on to her potions books, my next favorite subject, when it was time to go back to school. Again, Lily and I got a compartment all to ourselves, away from each of our friends.

"Aren't you excited to be going back," she said to me, lying down on the seat across from me while she twirled a piece of her long red hair with her finger.

"Of course I am," I snorted, "Why would I ever want to be living with my parents than here at school?"

"I'm going to miss my family," she said sadly, still twirling a lock of her hair, "Christmas is a long ways away."

"Yeah, well at least you can look forward to that," I muttered, "I hate Christmas."

"Oh Sev, I'm sorry," she apologized, sitting up in her seat to face me, "I shouldn't have said anything. I know how hard it is for you at home over the holidays."

"It's okay," I reassured her, "I have all my books to keep me occupied through the holidays."

She seemed to frown a little at me. "I don't know why you read those things. Some of them contain some dark content and I don't think any of our professors at school would think it wise for a second year to be reading them."

I shrugged. "There's no problem with getting ahead."

"There is when you're way too young to be learning that stuff," she scolded me. One of the things I loved about Lily was the way she watched over me. I guessed that caring nature came from her mother. She sort of took on the motherly role in a sort of way for me, always concerned for what I was doing and what I was getting into. "And when you have the wrong motives for doing it," she finished.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned, a tad bit bitter. She was making me out to be an ignorant fool, unaware of my own destiny.

"It means that I know you're only working so hard to master all these spells that are too mature for you to prove that you're better than Potter and his friends," I saw her brows crumple in an effort to show anger, "You're better than him anyways and you don't need to be filling your mind with dark magic to prove that."

"That's not true," I mumbled, although I knew she was almost right. There was a drive in me to learn all the dark spells and defensive magic I could to prove myself, not just to Potter and his gang, but to everyone else in the world as well; everyone who dared call me a weak fool. But there was also the fact that the dark arts were just plain fascinating to me. I enjoyed reading about all the chaos you could cause by just one simple spell.

"Wanna bet," she retorted, her voice containing more hard anger than its' usual sweetness with me.

I was finding myself starting to boil with anger at the fact of her accusing me of things that she didn't know the truth of. She didn't know my motives or how I thought or felt about anything, so how dare she say sound like she understood every hidden part of me. "Well, you don't know anything," I bellowed, my face turning red in fury, "You're just being stupid and you don't understand."

She just sat and stared at me for a few seconds, her green eyes piercing through mine. I felt my anger face and regret take its' place at my words, but before I could apologize, she was grabbing her things. "Well, if that's how you feel," she said coldly, throwing her bag down from the overhead compartment, "then I'll just leave you to all of your mature reading that all of us simple people just don't understand." She stormed off to the door of the compartment, but she turned around just as she was about to walk through it and shouted, "Maybe you should post a warning next time so you don't end up sitting with someone who's too ignorant and not up to your standards!" A grimace fell upon my face as my whole body jumped from the slamming shut of the door that was no doubt heard from anywhere on the train.

I just sat, staring at the door to the compartment, waiting for her to come back, but after five minutes of waiting, she never did. I considered running after her, but I was too embarrassed and fearful to do so. She would no doubt be sitting somewhere else, probably with her friends, not wanting me in ten feet of her. I reluctantly tore my gaze from the door which she would not come back through and stared out the window at the passing trees, waiting for us to finally pull into the Hogsmeade station.

When we did arrive, I walked slowly off the train, dragging my feet, looking for a sighting of Lily, ready to apologize for my harsh words. As I neared the carriages however, I saw her riding away in the back of one with a lonely looking Remus Lupin. She had the bright smile back on her face as she was chatting nonchalantly to him. Oh she looks upset, I thought to myself and I felt anger rush through me again, coupled with a fear that she was trading me in for the shabby Lupin. I pushed that thought out of my head, knowing that she couldn't throw away our friendship that easily.

I felt something hard thump me on the back and I turned to a smiling Mulciber next to me, who seemed to have grown a couple inches over the summer, with a just as happy looking Avery, who appeared to not have grown at all.

"How was your summer Snape," leered Mulciber. It was highly unlikely that he would ever get rid of that malicious joking tone in his voice that matched the dark eyes in which evil appeared to dance in.

"Oh, it was alright," I shrugged. I wasn't rather fond of Mulciber of Avery. They tended to be rather creepy, intimidating, and downright scary at times, but they were the best friends I had here apart from Lily. "How was yours," I finished.

"Not too bad," he sneered, nodding his head, "My father taught me some jinxes that I could maybe try out on a few people this year. Helped me practice them too."

"But we're not supposed to do underage magic," I said suspiciously.

He simply just laughed at me, along with Avery. "Only cowards follow rules," he justified, "Besides, my father just said it was him performing the jinxes when the Ministry officials came knocking."

"And they believed him?" I asked in shock.

"Of course they did," he said as if it was obvious, "My father's very powerful with the Ministry." At his last words, he turned to look at Avery and they both smirked together, as if exchanging some kind of meaning behind those words.

I just looked at them both dumbfounded until Mulciber threw his heavy arm around me and steered me toward a carriage in which I piled into with him and Avery at my heels.

At the feast, I listened to more of Mulciber and Avery's summer tales while I stared across the hall at Lily. She was next to Mary, Lucy, and Bonnie and I noticed that not once did she glance in my direction. Usually, she would always lock eyes with me and smile out of habit, but this time, it was obvious that she was deliberately avoiding me and my apologetic eyes.

I finally tore my eyes away from her when Professor Dumbledore rose at the end of the feast to give his annual welcome speech, thankful that it finally shut up Mulciber and Avery. He introduced us to our new Defense the Dark Arts teacher Professor Hickabee, an auror for the Ministry, to replace Professor Hayes, who evidently was in St. Mungo's Hospital after being attacked by a bunch of goblins over the summer when he refused to pay the money he owed them.

At the end of the speech, we were sent off to bed and I didn't get another chance to see Lily and apologize. I stayed awake all night, listening to the loud snores of Mulciber as I worried over Lily. I didn't know what I would do without her. She was my best friend and I wanted to believe that she thought more of our friendship that to just give up on it after one tiny disagreement. If she was truly the Lily I knew, then she would be awake several floors above me, pondering over the same things.

The next day at breakfast, she sat with her back to me across the hall. This was also a new habit. We always sat at our tables so we were in clear view of one another. I felt my hopes crash around me as I saw this realization. I had to find away to apologize to her and soon. We received our schedules from Slughorn and I saw that I had Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions with her today. I would somehow find a way to talk to her in one of those classes.

After breakfast, I went out into the entrance hall to wait for her before heading to my first class, but she never came out and when I glanced inside, I saw that she was gone. Later that morning, I arrived at Defense Against the Dark Arts late, and to my disappointment, Lily was already sitting up in the front with Lucy, Mary, and Bonnie, not even bothering to turn around with the rest of the class when I walked in.

Professor Hickabee went on throughout the whole lesson about all of the jinxes and defensive spells we would be getting introduced to this year, although I already knew all of them. He seemed a much more capable teacher than Professor Hayes, but still just as cocky. He seemed to take pride in the fact that he was a known undefeated dueler in the wizarding world, and would so be teaching us how to duel during the course of the year. This raised my hopes just a tad higher as I thought of all the pleasure I would get in defeating Potter and Black, who were smirking smugly in the corner at Hickabee's words. They wouldn't know what was coming for them.

As our class was dismissed, I didn't bother waiting for Lily. If she was going to ignore me, then I was going to ignore her too. I strutted off for lunch, ignoring Potter and Black's welcome back digs, which only added to my irritation.

"Your hair is looking a tad greasier this year Snivellus," they chimed, "What did you do, bathe in a sea of oil?"

I clutched my wand in my pocket, ready to spring around and throw one of the curses I memorized this summer at them, but instead, I took a deep breath and turned around thinking I would save that for the duel. I could make them look like idiots at the same time in which I could look like a hero.

At lunch, I sat with my back to Lily, continuing the game she was playing at. I tried to strike up a conversation with Mulciber and Avery to distract myself and make it look like I didn't care just in case she looked over.

In potions, I took a seat in the back with Mulciber and Avery, refusing to look when she came through the door. I didn't look at her at all through the entire class, averting my eyes from where I thought she sat and staring fixedly at Slughorn as he lectured. As usual, he tested our potions skills and outshone everyone.

After class, I was beginning my way to the common room when something soft caught my arm. I turned my face around to see Lily staring at me, holding her hand on my arm in an effort to stop me. Her brow was furrowed and her eyes showed sadness. She was upset.

She seemed to think I was about to throw her hand off me, but when I didn't, I felt the tension in the way she was holding my arm fade away."I'm sorry, Sev," she whimpered, "Please don't stay mad at me."

I could have yelled and told her how furious I was with her, but if I did, it wouldn't be truthful. I wasn't mad at her. I could never be angry with her. Sure, she frustrated me with her words and her actions sometimes, but I could never be mad at her in a way that would be permanent or make me think any less of her. 'I'm not mad at you," I murmured, "I never was."

I heard her breathe a sigh of relief and she dropped my arm. "Then why were you ignoring me?" she asked a little hurt.

"Because you were ignoring me," I told her.

"No, I wasn't," she said, her words coming out in a rush.

I stared at her dumbfounded. "How come you wouldn't talk of look at me then?"

She shook her head. "I didn't mean too. I just felt…I just felt hurt and embarrassed."

"About what?'

"That you said I didn't know anything," she mumbled.

"Lily, I didn't mean—" I tried to tell her. How could she think that I thought she was an ignorant fool?

"I know," she interrupted, "It was silly, but I just thought that maybe you no longer wanted to be friends with me because I wasn't as good at magic as you are."

"Of course you're good," I said, "You're one of the best in our year, especially considering you're Muggle born."

"Thanks," she sighed. After a pause she said quietly, "Look, I'm sorry for those awful things I said to you about studying the dark arts. I mean you were reading school books so they can't be that bad if they teach them in a classroom. I know it's a way to escape your parents over the summer, so I'm sorry I yelled at you for reading them. I'm just worried about you, that's all. They say awful things about Slytherin house and the people who come out of there. I just don't want you to end up like them. Do you forgive me?"

I knew very well about all of my Slytherin predecessors. Some of the darkest Slytherins of all time came out of Slytherin house, but at that moment, I had no inkling of wanting to become part of that sinister bunch. "Of course I forgive you," I said, cracking a smile, "I already told you I wasn't mad at you about anything. I don't think I could be mad at you." I looked down to the floor on my last words and felt my face flush scarlet.

Her mouth twisted up into a smile back and she said softly, "Thanks Sev, I could never be really mad at you either."

I was so wrapped up in my happiness of having my best friend back, that I didn't expect it. Before I could even compose a response, Lily threw her arms around me in her familiar warm embrace and again, I felt face flush red. After 3 years, I still hadn't mastered the art of not looking like a tomato every time she touched me or said something in my praise. I simply put my arms around her, hugging her close to me, until she reluctantly retreated to her own common room.

We had made it past a test in our friendship. It was the first time our difference beliefs in good and evil got in the way of our friendship, but it wouldn't be the last. Maybe if we had listened to fate and hadn't forgiven each other, then maybe it wouldn't have hurt so much. But who was I kidding. I thought about Lily Evans every minute of every day. That was just one feeling that wouldn't go away over space or time itself…

~Thanks for reading! Leave some lovely comments please! x~