"I have a bad feeling about this." said Severus, once all the visitors on Lily's flat were gone. "I don't think we can trust them with this."
"Dumbledore won't let them do anything stupid. This isn't about us or our old quarrels anymore. It's about the Order and what we can do as members." Lily replied with a reassuring smile and a pat on his hand.
"They are going to do something stupid, someday. Dumbledore never stopped them, why should he stop them now? I highly doubt they are capable of seeing things the way you do. Or that they have any hint of common sense inside their heads."
It was not so much as them being reckless and thoughtless, but about the fact that if they were to repeat their behavior now, someone would get killed. Most likely Severus himself and maybe Lily; and they would just move on with their lives as if nothing happened.
Lily sighed.
"We have no other option, I guess… Hey, I have to leave for work now, when you are done with your coffee just put the key under the rug in front the door, alright? See you soon."
With a quick kiss on his forehead, she was gone. Although her presence was everywhere in the apartment, from the flowers on the center table to the smell of her shampoo coming from the bathroom.
Severus very much wished he could stay forever and wait for her to come back with a meal he probably didn't know how to cook. He couldn't, however, so he finished his coffee and left, leaving the key under the rug as he was instructed.
When he was back to his empty home, he thought he should probably think of a way of being in two places at the same time. Of course Voldemort wasn't watching his every move but it would be dangerous to disappear for a couple of hours with certain frequency.
It would get better once he managed to befriend Lily publicly again, at least.
The day passed slowly. Severus studied for his degree for a couple of hours, studied Dark Arts for some time and overall just went forth with his routine as if everything was normal and perfect in his world.
And then the night came, and he was more than ready to put his plan into practice and "befriend" Lily again and be able to be with her without worrying about Voldemort. The situation probably wouldn't go on for a long time but at least it was something, for the time being.
He knew that he shouldn't be making life long plans, in the way he stood in a very thin line that could break at any given moment.
But as he sat down on his now usual spot at the classroom, he could at least rejoice the fact that Lily would sit next to him and they would work together for a few hours.
They were the youngest students there and no one was very sympathetic as well. Just busy workers trying to become Unspeakables at any cost.
The class was half full when Lily arrived. She made an attempt to walk past straight him but he said: "I won't bite, you know? After all this time, you have to agree we still are a great team when it comes to Potions."
Lily was an excellent actress, not that Voldemort could sense what she was thinking through Severus' memories. She pursed her lips slightly, as if she felt troubled but had to admit the truth of what he was saying, and then she sat down.
"This doesn't mean I'm in good terms with you again."
"Sure doesn't. I behaved well last night, I must say."
Even though they spoke lowly, everyone else was focused in their conversation, which was by far the most interesting thing in the room. Just like Severus wanted. Voldemort sure would try and do a background check to see if Severus wasn't fooling him somehow…
Well, he was, but he hoped to be one step ahead from Voldemort.
When the class was over, Severus stayed behind as Lily gathered her things, trying to be quick but being too clumsy in the process.
"Want some help?" he asked.
"Not from you."
Severus smirked. He was having a lot of fun, staging those memories. The class was already empty at that point, however.
"Come on. We were best friends. I'm sure you didn't forget me."
"I was friends with you, when you weren't a…" Lily stopped mid-sentence, perfectly following the clues and going along with the whole scene.
"Death Eater? Well, maybe. But people change, my dear Lily, and they tend to regret their past choices." Severus said. "I don't see why I should keep secret of this fact since you already seem to know. Truth is I'm thinking twice about it, and I'm sorry for everything I've done to you."
"Haha. Very funny." Lily said and tried to walk away, but Severus held her wrist gently.
"I'm being serious. Would you please listen to me? In the name of the good old times?"
"There's nothing I can do for you, I'm sorry. I can't save you from whatever trouble you got yourself into."
"Please. I wouldn't be telling you this if I wasn't serious about it. This could kill me at this point, and yet here I am."
Lily sighed and pulled her arm away from Severus' grip.
"I have a feeling you won't rest until you tell me whatever you have to say."
"You are right. There's a good place for a coffee around the corner. Care to go with me there?"
A couple of hours and some fake tears later, Severus was satisfied with the way the plot was going. Lily pretended very well to soften her heart to him and try to help him as much as she could. It was, overall, believable, even though it looked too much like a soap opera for Severus' taste.
It didn't matter.
He could be with Lily on a daily basis and go to the meetings of the Order of the Phoenix as she wanted, so for the time being, all was well.
LsLsLs
"Are you ready?" asked Lily as they apparited in front of Potter's house.
"For the most part, yes."
Severus looked positively paler than his normal. He wasn't very ready to face everyone who would distrust him for the next months, Lily could tell. Most members wouldn't be open about it because after all they trusted Dumbledore, but sure James and company would take care of that and voice their "opinions".
At least Lily hoped they had enough brains to follow the plan and didn't attribute it to a personal attack from Severus. There was nothing personal about it; unfortunately the three of them were the only ones, aside from Dumbledore and McGonagall, who knew of Severus' true history. And so they had no choice but to cooperate.
But who knew if the destiny of the Wizardry World was enough to force them to follow the rules, just this once?
"Dumbledore announced I would be here today, I suppose?" Severus asked when he placed his hand of the front door's knob.
"Ah, well, I'm sure he did. I mean, you could leave with a few bruises and broken bones if you appeared without notice. But I'll be with you. If one of the members decide to do anything funny, I'll have your back covered."
"I'd appreciate the gesture." He said and opened the door.
Lily took the lead from there, and went straight to the magnificent dining room of the house. Everyone was talking in whispers but stopped when Severus and Lily showed up and sat down at the two most distant chairs.
"I still don't agree with this." Said Sirius, turning to Dumbledore. "Come on, Dumbledore, why let a Death Eater walk inside our headquarter so easily?"
"And my house, no less." James added. "Who guarantees me I'll be alive tomorrow?"
Their fake speech added more tension to the already tense room. Everyone had their wands at ready, except from Severus and Lily.
"I've questioned him with Veritaserum, his intentions seem to be truthful." Dumbledore replied.
"As if Veritaserum was infallible." McGonagall said under her breath.
Sure the moods were somewhat stirred. The other members seemed to be downright angry and baffled at the whole situation, with the antagonistic remarks.
"Either you believe me or not, that is your choice." Severus said. "But I do bring vital information. Voldemort pretends to do a muggleborn raid on Godric Hollow's tomorrow at midnight. Instead of questioning Dumbledore's choices, how about thinking of a way to counter attack the raid?"
Godric Hollows was an ancient wizard village. It was said that Godric Gryffindor, one of the founders of Hogwarts, lived there. It made sense that Voldemort would want the place clear from "mudbloods".
But as Lily knew, it was information Voldemort approved Severus to share so he could gain the Order's trust. As long as the other members were not aware of this fact, everything would be fine.
Severus was still to find out what would Voldemort want within Godric's Hollow so much, that it was worth a visit. His muggle or muggleborn raids were never purposeless.
From there, the meeting went as swiftly as possible. People trusted Dumbledore, in the end of the day, despite his unusual choices and plans. But even then they had to walk the line of people believing Severus and at the same time being hostile to him because otherwise Voldemort might think he was getting too chummy and therefore unfit to be a spy.
Lily tried to trust Dumbledore as well, because unfortunately this wasn't a war she and Severus could fight alone.
A.N.: The chapters with Snape and Lily are coming to an end soon, I'm afraid… ): But that's on the summary so please don't kill me for killing them haha