Chapter 11: Then the Morning Comes

The morning after was painful for both Alyce and Lily. Lily woke up and sighed. She knew that it was over now, and she was sore, but she didn't regret it. She rolled over ready to face Alyce's numerous questions about her night, but then she realized she wasn't in the dormitory. She tried not to move the bed too much as she tried to get a feel of where she was. "I never left his room!" her mind screamed.

She got out of bed quickly trying not to wake him. She looked at herself in the mirror in his bathroom, and nearly screamed. She looked like herself again, and that was bad. She needed to get out and fast. She tried to locate her dress in his room, and her underwear. She didn't have much time and she hoped she wouldn't have to look too hard for her clothes. She scrambled around the room trying not to knock over anything in her nervousness. She luckily found all of her clothes and dressed. She threw the cloak over herself just in time.

Snape awoke and saw the cloaked woman walking out of his door. He sighed to himself. She was gone, and he had a feeling that was the last time he would hear from her. He got up and started the shower. He let the hot water roll down his body as he washed the last bits of her from him. He scrubbed until he couldn't smell her perfume on his skin, until he couldn't feel her kisses, until he couldn't smell her love. He was glad she was gone, love was complicated.

Lily made it to Moaning Mrytle's bathroom undetected. She slipped the dress into the handbag along with the hooded cloak, and the red shoes. She dressed in the Hogwarts uniform she had been wearing the night before. She washed the smeared makeup off of her face. She sighed, "Fairy tale is over," she said to herself as she walked out of the bathroom. She couldn't guess what time it was, but she hoped no one had noticed she was missing. She was sure Alyce had probably repaid her the debt of stuffing her bed. Lily sighed again. She didn't really want to explain what had happened the night before, sure it would be one of her fondest memories, but it was something she couldn't share with others, it was something that was going to be painful to think about in the following months.

Alyce looked over at Lily's bed. "Damnit, where did she slip off too? I really need to talk to her," Alyce thought. As soon as that thought crossed her mind Lily walked into the room looking quite disheveled. "What the hell happened to you?" Alyce said getting a good look at her. "What time did you get in last night?"

"I didn't come back last night, I lost track of time," Lily said. She might as well be honest with Alyce though a thought crossed her mind after that and she said, "Why? Oh no, do you think anyone else knows I never made it in last night?"

"I doubt it, Professor McGonagall never made her rounds last night she must have been too drunk from that faculty party thing that was going on last night," Alyce said. "Or at least that's what Lavender said, I wasn't awake as you can guess since I didn't know you didn't make it back. By the way I want details on that."

"There isn't much to say, it isn't going to work out Alyce, he and I, we are from different worlds. He can't be with me, I can't be with him, we're just wrong now," Lily said swallowing breaths of air heavily to keep herself from crying.

"I know that story," Alyce said bitterly. "Draco and I broke up last night for the same reason. You were right, and you were wrong Lily. He's definitely hiding something, but he isn't a danger to me anymore. He doesn't want me anymore," Alyce said hanging her head.

Lily patted Alyce on the back and sat down next to her. "I'm so sorry," Lily said. "I didn't want to be right about this, I swear I didn't."

"It's not your fault," Alyce said. "Anyway, you know how I bounce back. Just because he doesn't want me doesn't mean I can't find some other guy. He was just another guy."

Lily didn't believe Alyce for a moment. She knew that it was a defense mechanism, she had always known, but she had never said anything to Alyce about it. She knew it was the way that Alyce dealt with things, and though she disapproved of the way Alyce handled things, she knew that it was useless to say anything about it. "I suppose that is true," Lily said.

"You should find someone else too," Alyce said.

"I don't think I'm going to bounce back so quickly," Lily said smiling. "I'm not looking for a fling, I suppose if I do find someone to be with, I want it to be more long term you know?"

Suddenly Alyce's cat jumped on the bed causing both girls to scream in shock. "BUG!" Alyce yelled. "Don't scare me like that!" If cats could smile Bug would have been grinning. "Little shit always likes to sneak up on me."

Lily thought it was just the distraction that was needed. "Hey, do you want to get some breakfast or something?"

"Yeah, but, and no offense Lily, you should probably take a shower. You reek of sex, and by the way congrats on losing the big V. You can join the rest of us now, if I weren't angry with this guy for breaking up with you I would have to shake his hand," Alyce said laughing.

Lily sniffed herself. "Nah you won't be able to smell it, you're a newbie. Take my word for it," Alye said.

Lily nodded and made her way to the bathroom to shower. She let the warm water run over her for a few moments before washing her skin. She could still smell him on her skin; he smelled like cedar, she guessed his dress clothes must have been placed in either a cedar chest or wardrobe to keep the moths away from it. That dress would be the last remnants of their night together. She almost wished she had taken something from the room, not something he would miss, just something to remember him by. She thought about it more and decided it was best that she didn't. She needed to stop thinking about him, she had her night, and she had seen that indeed she did stand a chance after things cleared up. Maybe after this whole thing was over, after Voldemort was finally gone for good, she would tell him, if either of them survived this war. She finished up her shower and dressed herself for a brand new day.

Alyce sat on her bed and waited for Lily to be done with her shower. Alyce took that time to think about exactly what Draco had said to her. It had been raw the night before and hard to really believe that any of it was even real. She was in shock that night, but now she was able to sort through it was she was beginning to feel a horrible numbness fill her body. "This isn't the first relationship you have ever been in girl, snap out of it," Alyce said to herself.

"No, but it was the only relationship you thought might actually have a chance, the only relationship you gave a shit about," her mind retorted.

Alyce ignored the voice of retort in her head. She was done thinking about it for now and in a few minutes, Lily would be done with her shower so they could get some breakfast.. She waited for Lily to come back from the shower and when she did, Alyce said, "Much better. Let's get some food now."

Lily nodded and they both walked into the common room, instantly gagging when they came upon a couple on the couch. "Get a room," Alyce said to Lavender and Ron who were making out on the "You know we all have to sit on that thing."

Lavender glared at Alyce and Ron said, "What are you and Draco having a fight, quit being such a prude."

Alyce's mouth hung open and she didn't even see Lily leave her side. As soon as she was able to close her mouth from the shock she heard Lily's hand make a connection with Ron's face. The loud snap quieted the room. Ron stood in shock. "What was that for!" he demanded rubbing his face.

"For being an insensitive prat," Lily said turning to leave.

"You used to be a nice girl Lily, when did you turn into such a bitch?" Ron asked.

Lily ignored his comment and left the common room and Alyce followed behind her.

"What was that all about? I could have taken care of it," Alyce said.

"He deserved it and he has deserved it for many months. Just because he has a girlfriend doesn't give him the right to treat either of us like crap," Lily said.

"Damn, look out Lily's on a rampage," Alyce said punching her arm lightly. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"Neither did I honestly," Lily said smiling.

Alyce sighed and stretched her arms as they walked toward the Great Hall. "You know I haven't seen you hit anyone like that since you punched Draco in the face three years ago," Alyce said laughing.

Lily and Alyce sat at the Gryffindor table and began to dig in. "I always wondered, why pumpkin juice?" Lily said looking at the cup on the table. "I mean out of all the possible juice beverages the least likely would be pumpkin. Even carrot would rate higher as a possible juice component."

Alyce shrugged. "I never really thought about it," she said raising her glass. "It is juice, I drink it, and all is well," she added gulping down the juice.

Lily shook her head. Keeping her mind off of Severus was going to be harder than she thought. She tried to convince herself that it had been worth it, but she knew seeing him in class again was going to be a battle in and of itself. She had to find some other way to fill her time, something else to think about. She looked over at Alyce and said, "Hey you going to Hogsmeade next weekend?"

"I was planning on going," Alyce said. She didn't want to admit that Draco had been her first choice to go with.

"The four of us can go, it's been a long time since we've gone together as a group just to have fun," Lily said. "Though, well, I suppose it will just be the three of us, I doubt Ron will be able to separate himself from Lavender long enough to hang out."

"Yeah," Alyce said not really feeling up to doing anything. She just wanted to lie around and wallow. This was very bizarre usually she was the one ready to jump back into things and Lily would wallow in her own self pity until Alyce finally knocked some damn sense into her. How strange it was to see things from the other perspective. "So how long are you going to keep up this charade? You always deflect when something is on your mind," Alyce said.

Lily lowered her eyes slightly. "You read me far too well sometimes. Yes, I was actually trying not to think about last night. I had a good time, but all good things must come to an end eventually you know. It's too bad… I do wish I had had more time," she said somewhat dreamily. Alyce was reminded of Luna Lovegood, with her dreamy sort of demeanor. She hadn't talked to Luna in a while actually, none of them had, they had all been too busy. Luna had helped them out majorly the previous year and since that battle, since Harry had lost Sirius, none of them had thought it right to bring it up. No one wanted to open up the fresh wounds that they all hoped Harry would be able to heal from. She shook her head. She was letting her thoughts get away from her again.

The rest of the breakfast was eaten in silence. Lily finished first, scarfing the food down quickly. "I think I'm going to work on some scrolls in the library. You are welcome to join me if you want."

"Nah, I'm going to take a personal day," Alyce said stretching. She didn't have much of an appetite, so she was pushing her food around her plate.

"Ok, well the invitation is still open if you want to join me later," Lily said getting up from the table.

Alyce sat at the table alone. She knew she should join Lily to study, they hadn't been spending much time together as of late, and Alyce's studies were starting to show signs of descent. She couldn't handle being around people today, not for long periods of time that is. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed for the day with a good novel and forget all about the jerk that had broken up with her. She wondered how soon it would be before he had another girlfriend. She shook that thought from her head. She told herself she didn't want to think about him, and here she was thinking about him again. She needed this day to herself and then she needed to get back out on the prowl for her next fix.

Lily couldn't concentrate. She had been reading the same paragraph over and over while not really absorbing any of the knowledge. She couldn't stop thinking about the night before. She had enjoyed it, but she was beginning to believe that it might have been a mistake. She shouldn't have let him take her down to his room, she shouldn't have let him love her and then left, she shouldn't have gone along with this stupid plan she had come up with in her head at all. She should have just let it go, she should have never thought about Professor Snape again. It was wrong, what would people think if they ever found out.

"Which is why no one will ever find out," she thought to herself.