Part Two

     Sunday Lily and Rose remained in their dorm all day.  Lily was scared of her friends' reactions, and Rose was there to keep her company.  Rose reminded her Lily had to come out and face them sometime, and she promised she would.  Tomorrow. 

     The following morning James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were waiting when Lily, Rose, and Mary came down. 

     "Well, Lily, show us your battle scars!"

     "You know what I think?" Sirius said.  "I think he tried to kiss her."

     "He didn't try," Lily said sharply. 

     "That's a surprise," Sirius muttered as they left the common room.  Lily took a deep breath.  She had to tell them now. 

     "I let him."

     As one, the five boys froze, and then slowly turned to face her.  David was the first to speak.  He put his hand on her forehead. 

     "What on earth did he put in your drink?"

     Lily pulled away.  "Nothing.  And – I thought you ought to know – he asked me to be his girlfriend last night.  I said yes." She began to rapidly walk toward the Great Hall. 

     For about three seconds they – being the boys – stood perfectly still in shock.  Then Sirius laughed. 

     "You can't be serious!"

     "I have never been more so," she snapped.  Sirius stopped laughing.  They all stared at her except Mary and Rose.  Mary stared at the ground, her hands clasped tightly behind her back.  Rose nervously glanced from one of her friends to the next.  Remus finally broke the silence. 

     "Lily...are you sure you know what you're doing?  It was only one date, and you agreed to be a couple?  And with Snape?"

     Only I know what I'm doing, Lily reminded herself.  Repeatedly.  "I know it's hard to understand.  But I did really think about it."

     "Then why did you say yes?" shouted David.  "He's a Slytherin, Lily!  We've been fighting with him for years!  You're – you're-"

     "-Fraternizing with the enemy!" Sirius finished. 

     Lily only glared at them and started walking to the Great Hall again. 

     "Oh, no you don't," Sirius said, quickly stepping in front of her.  "We're going to talk about this."

     "Then talk as you walk," Lily said icily, stepping around him.  The boys followed. 

     "Lily, aren't you going to even try to explain?" Remus asked, trying to stay calm at her seemingly illogical actions.  She stopped again, and they did too. 

     "I would, but it wouldn't get me anywhere with you lot."

     Sirius raised a finger and opened his mouth to argue, then stopped as he realized she was right.  Lily arched her eyebrows at him and continued to walk down the hall. 

     "So, what, that's it?" he cried as they once again fell in step behind her.  "Isn't there anything else you're going to say about it?"

     "No," said Lily shortly.  "I just thought you, being my friends, ought to know I have a boyfriend.  That's all.  Anything Severus and I do is none of your concern."

     "Bullshit!" he shouted.  "You're our friend and he's our enemy!  And hasn't he asked you to call him Sevy yet?"

     Sirius hadn't known Lily was capable of such scathing glares, but he got over his shock rapidly.  "Lily, we've been fighting with him longer than we've known you."

     For the first time, something like alarm and a hint of hurt showed on her face.  "So your enmity with him is more important than your friendship with me?"

     "No!" He put his hand to his forehead and ran it through his hair.  "Lily – I wasn't saying that."

     "What he means," Remus sighed, stepping forward, "is that we know him better than you do, and you shouldn't be seeing him."

     "You don't know anything about him!" she cried.  "You've only seen the worst side of him, you don't even know he has a totally different side!  Well, I do!"

     "What?" David said in disbelief, as though she were speaking gibberish.  Lily just shook her head and kept walking. 

     "Mary!" Sirius whirled on the fourth year as though she were his last hope of salvation.  It made her jump slightly.  "Aren't you going to do something about this?"

     Sunday morning she had been called into Lily and Rose's dorm, where they had begun to awkwardly explain what had taken place last night on Lily's date.  Mary had cut them off, saying simply she had overheard them last night, which didn't relieve her sisters at all.  They told her that that wasn't the way they had wanted her to find out, and she replied it didn't matter. 

     Now Mary quickened her pace, saying to the air in front of her, "No.  Lily knows what she's doing." The way she said it left no doubt in anyone's mind that she wasn't going to touch her sister's life. 

     Now, there were two boys who never voiced their opinions, objections, or otherwise during this dialogue.  One was Peter, the other James.  Peter was most severely confused at this point in time about whose side he should be on to say anything.  James's vocal chords were numb from shock.  He was rather thankful for this, as he wasn't too sure anything he said wouldn't come out in a high-pitched squeak.  But now he pulled Sirius to the back of the group. 

     " 'Its one date'?" he questioned. 

     "Don't worry about it, man," he said, distracted.  "She'll snap out of it." But there wasn't very much faith in his tone.  He added, as though seized with inspiration, "And I'll help her."

     He started walking toward her as they finally approached the Great Hall.  "Hey, Lil!  Can you spell 'Slytherin'?"

     David quickly picked up the idea, and as they took their habitual seats, they started to taunt Lily with the fact that she was going out with Snape, refusing to let up. 

     "Do your parents know?" Remus suddenly asked. 

     Lily and Rose simultaneously dropped their spoons and glanced at each other apprehensively.  Mary raised her eyebrows.  It was the first time she had thought of that. 

     "Nicki's a Gryffindor," she reminded them. 

     "Oooh, this ought to be good!" exclaimed Sirius.  "Lily Marie Evans, his first-born witch, his princess, becoming a Slytherin's girlfriend and doing God-knows-what with him.  Isn't he going to be pleased?"

     "Sirius!" Lily said through gritted teeth.  "You know nothing about my parents, so just be quiet, okay?"

     For another ten minutes the boys continued to harass her.  Lily and Rose argued with them as much as they could, but they were losing.  Mary sat wordlessly next to Rose, unable to bring herself to defend Lily's relationship with her enemy. 

     Severus, a table down, watched the scene with narrowed eyes.  He couldn't hear what was being said, but he could make a very close guess.  Lily was looking frustrated.  Once, he saw her lean forward, putting her elbows on the table and pushing her fingers through her hair.  But the thing that caught his eye was how bright her eyes were.  That did it.  He got up and walked around the Gryffindor table to where Lily was.  Potter and Black fell silent as he approached, and Lily didn't notice until he placed a hand on her shoulder.  She looked up, surprised. 

     "Lily, if they're bothering you, you can come with me to eat somewhere quieter."

     "Thank you," she sighed in relief, standing up and pulling her bag over her shoulder.  Severus cast her tormentors a smug look.  As Lily was about to walk away, she added, "Oh, I don't think you've really met my sisters, Rose and Mary." Rose smiled brightly.  Mary forced hers.  Severus nodded to both, resolving to be as nice to Mary as he was to Rose.  "And I think you know the rest." Lily finished. 

     "All too well," he muttered, and then glanced anxiously at her.  But Lily was not on good terms with her friends right then. 

     "Yeah," she sighed. 

     As they left the Great Hall, David found his voice and called loudly, "I don't give them a month."

     Sirius countered, "I don't give them eleven days."

     Lily looked up at Severus determinedly.  "We'll show them," she whispered.  He smiled down at her, putting his arm around her waist. 

     "Yeah.  They'll see."

     As they started to walk down the corridor, he inquired, "I don't suppose you know where the kitchens are?"

     "As a matter of fact, I do," she replied.  He looked surprised, and she added, with a slight smile, "You're forgetting who my friends are."

     "Oh" was all he said to that.  After a moment, he informed her, "Well, so do I." They stopped before a portrait of fruit, and he impatiently tapped the pear.  Laughing, the picture swung open, and Severus led Lily down the stairs, where they were greeted by the zealous house-elves. 

     "What is the good sir and miss be wishing for?" squeaked one as they crowded around.

     Severus glanced at her.  "What do you want, Lily?"

     "Er – I'm not really hungry.  How about a few croissants?"

     Immediately a large plate stacked with hot croissants rushed towards them (held up by two house-elves from underneath), along with two fluffy cushions for them to sit on.  The couple grinned at each other as they sat down on the floor. 

     "Well," Severus began, "this is just a wild guess, but wasn't the argument you and your friends were having concerning us?"

     "How did you ever know?" Lily asked sarcastically. 

     "So the news didn't go over well?"

     "You could say that.  You could also say they're convinced I've lost it."

     "I'm sorry."

     "No, it's okay.  They're going to have to find out I'm not going to break up with someone just because I don't have their approval."

     He smiled, reaching over to take her hand. 

     A few minutes later a house-elf approached them, curtsying twice before announcing, "I beg your pardon, sir and miss, but I must say that sir and miss's classes begin soon."

     They quickly got to their feet, Lily thanking the house-elf.  As they stepped back into the corridor, Severus told her, "Don't let them bother you.  I'll see you later." He squeezed her hand, gave her a quick kiss on the lips, and hurried off to Charms. 

     Lily's dreamy smile evaporated as she reached her friends. 

     "Not a word out of any of you," she snapped before they could say anything.  "Not a single, solitary word.  Come on, we have Divination and if we're late Professor Trelawney will prophesy that something evil will befall all our descendents.  See you at lunch, Mary." And with that she rapidly walked past them toward the North Tower.

     Rose caught up with her and asked nonchalantly, "Where did you go?"

     "Kitchens," Lily whispered.  "But don't tell the boys because we might go there again."

     Rose nodded.

     The entire way to the Tower the sisters were at least five steps ahead of James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter.  They met Alice and Nicole waiting below the trapdoor.

     "Lily," Alice called as they ascended the ladder, "why did you leave breakfast with Severus Snape?" Neither she nor Nicole had ever actually spoken to him, but they knew their male classmates fought with him on a regular basis and his simply being a Slytherin was good enough reasons not to speak to him.

     Lily replied calmly, "Oh, Saturday we became a couple."

     Alice missed a rung in the ladder, and would have fallen if Nicole hadn't quickly reached up and grabbed her arm.  But Alice couldn't think of anything to say.  "Why?" sounded too rude.  Finally she just murmured, "Really?"

     Lily nodded offhandedly, and then decided to have mercy on her.  "I know it's sudden, but he's really quite different than you think he is."

     Nicole, the last girl to climb through the hole, ventured, "So your friends aren't too happy with this, are they?"

     Lily gave a little smile as the four of them moved to one side of the room and the five boys sullenly took their seats on the other side.  "I don't think they're speaking to me."

     None of the boys and Lily and Rose had seriously undertaken Divination.  At the end of their second year James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had simply written the name of each subject they could choose from down on a scrap of paper, tossed them into David's bowler hat, and randomly drawn out the classes they would take.  Lily and Rose had thought this was a rather reckless way to determine their future.  But it turned out that after the redheads had carefully chosen their favorite subjects, there was still one more they had to take, so they picked Divination – just to be with their friends.

     Now Professor Trelawney floated majestically forward through her screen of beads.  It was only her third year teaching – her predecessor, Professor Mori, was a female ghost that most students swore was a distant relative of Professor Binns.  She had supposedly predicted her own death, and was only off by two and a half years.  But she had quit teaching to join the League of the Past Who See the Future in their hundred-year trance.  The older students felt their new teacher was a step downward.

     "Good day, my dears," she purred, delicately setting down the crystal ball she was carrying onto her desk.  "I am so thankful to see you all here, well, and in your right minds.  However, who knows how long that shall last?  But that is what you are here for, is it not?" Trelawney smiled dreamily, not catching David's whispered,

     "No, we are here to laugh at your incorrect predictions!" James, David, and Sirius had so much fun in this class.

     "Now," she continued in what she obviously thought was a trance-like whisper, "today we will be reviewing our powers with orb-gazing.  I will be calling one of you up to first breathe the fumes of these smoking tea leaves" -she set what looked like an ashtray filled with burned leaves that had smoke rising forevermore from it- "which will help you see less with your outer eye and more with your Inner Eye."

     David, who was sitting closest to the table, had begun to hack and cough as soon as the ashtray made its appearance, now cried in feign terror, "I've gone blind!"

     Lily buried her face in Developing Your Inner Eye, trying to mask her laughter.

     Professor Trelawney chose not to hear that, and went on airily, "Then you will gaze into the crystal ball, and if you do have the character of a true Seer, you will see your fate unfold before you." David, meanwhile, had gone from being sightless to having gotten high.  "Now" -she clapped her hands together lightly- "I believe Mr. Black should go first."

     She really ought to have known better, after her past three years of experience with him.  She really ought to have.  But it was too late for any reconsiderations now – Sirius had risen dramatically from his seat.  Nicole and Alice, who had been having a written discussion of fifth year Ravenclaw Jason Halling, Alice's crush, stopped and eagerly leaned forward, as did everyone else in the classroom.  They all knew that when Sirius was called up in Divination, whatever followed would most certainly be a performance worth watching.

     Sirius strode purposefully forward, taking the ashtray and bringing it under his nose, where he breathed deeply, making his eyes roll back into his head and his eyelids flutter.  Slowly he set it back down and took his seat in front of the smoky crystal ball, a deep look of mixed concentration and thoughtfulness in his expression as he stared into it.  After a few seconds of silence he spoke.

     "It's clearing – I see" -he furrowed his brow in concentration- "a figure – he's running – blimey, he looks scared – wait, it's me!" Sirius looked shocked.  The class, despite their knowledge it was all an act, was caught up in the performance.  "Something's chasing me – oh no, I've fallen!" He looked to be sincerely frightened.  "It – whatever it is – is getting closer – I'm trying to crawl away but it's no use-"

     "What is it?" cried Trelawney breathlessly.  "The Grim?  A Chimaera?  A dementor?  A-"

     But she was cut short as Sirius let out a bloodcurdling scream so real that it sent a flash of doubt though all of his classmates' minds – except James's – that perhaps he wasn't pretending.  He had grabbed the armrests of the wooden chair so tightly his knuckles had turned white, and his face had blanched – his entire body was shaking.  Everyone was on the edge of their seats, watching him with wide eyes.  Professor Trelawney had rushed forward, taking him by the shoulders.

     "Oh, what was it, my dear boy?  Tell us!  What was it that caused you to shriek so?"

     Sirius, still shaking, whispered hoarsely in terror, "Magical – flying – anchovies!"

     The girls burst into laughter as James, David, Remus, and Peter started applauding wildly.  Trelawney straightened, extremely disappointed.  In less than a second Sirius went under a drastic transformation.  He stopped shaking, his face becoming its usual color, and he had jumped to his feet, bowing deeply to the class.  As he returned to his seat, James leaped up, vigorously shaking his hand as though Sirius had single-handedly saved an endangered species.

     "You shouldn't mock the study and practice of Divination," their teacher snapped, much out of character.  "The art of Seeing is not to be dealt lightly with.  This could be one of your most important classes here at Hogwarts-"

     "How?" James was leaning forward, his elbows on the table and his fingertips touching.

     Trelawney blinked.  "Excuse me?"

     "How?  What's the importance of seeing the future?  The future cannot be altered – any attempts one makes to change it will simply be part of the events that cause whatever fate you saw.  And if one doesn't try to do anything about it, that's part of one's fate as well.  Basically, the future cannot be altered, and any attempts one makes to alter it are just part of the alterations that cause whatever fate you saw.  The future will be the future, no matter what you do.  And if you did actually change it, well then, it wouldn't be the future, would it?  So if one realizes and understands all this, and goes on to study one's fate here, and if one receives – as it is most likely – a disturbing fate, then seeing as there is nothing one can do about it, one is doomed to be miserable and despairing in anticipation of one's future until the end of one's days.  I, personally, would rather remain ignorant of my future.  Of course, this all leads back to the question of this class's importance.  Why, we all could have spent the last five minutes doing something of value, like that two-thousand page essay Professor McGonagall demanded of us, instead of me confusing all of you."

     Of course, by now everyone was staring at him, dumbfounded.  Amused, Lily leaned back on her pouf, feeling rather content with the world at the moment.  Some things never change, she thought, watching Trelawney fumble for an answer as David gleefully nudged James under the table.

     During the next few days Lily and Severus didn't get to see each other very much – mainly due to conflicting classes and houses, and also because Sirius, David, and Peter always tried to distract her whenever they saw Snape in the vicinity.  Lily thought it was odd James didn't join in – he was barely speaking to her at all anymore, just giving the necessary greetings.  She assumed it was his way of displaying his disapproval of her unpopular decision.  How could she know he was utterly miserable in front of her, and that he didn't trust himself to even make conversation?  If she had known that, her future might have been a very different thing.

     Meanwhile, Severus was becoming increasingly aware of what a real threat to their relationships their distance was.  He knew from several successful attacks Potter, Potter, and Black had staged that they were in possession of some brains, and if Lily continued to be under their influence and away from his much longer, it was very probable she would break off their relationship.  Severus had to take action.  He pondered this as he walked some of the deserted corridors of Hogwarts.  Finally, an idea struck him – it was something that would take a whole lot of work, and he wasn't entirely certain it was completely legal – but he believed he could pull it off.

      On Friday he was in Defense Against the Dark Arts, not really paying attention as usual (after all, he knew more now about runespoors than this pathetic excuse for a Dark Arts expert ever would) – in fact, he was working on his new idea, when a slip of paper glided into the classroom from under the door, and went right up to – him.  Thankfully, the teacher was preoccupied.

     Vivienne Rakine, the girl who had been partnered with Black in Potions, leaned over from her desk.  "Who's it from?"

     Severus shrugged.  Actually, he was guessing from Lily, since he couldn't imagine anyone else who would go to the trouble to send him an inter-class note, unless one of her "friends" had a sudden urge to blackmail him.  But it did prove to be from Lily – though he couldn't believe its contents.

     Dear Severus,

           I'm very sorry, but over the week I have been thinking about our relationship.  I realized that we are just too different.  There isn't any way we can continue.  So it's best to end it now, this way, before we learn the hard way.  I hope you understand.

     Sincerely,

          Lily Evans

     Severus was in shock.  After all those weeks working so hard to gain her trust, this is what it came to?  What had he done wrong?  This morning, when she had waved and smiled at him from across the Great Hall, there was never a sign she was going to do this.  Not one.  What had gone wrong? 

     Forgetting the plans he had been concocting completely, Severus sat through the rest of the lesson on Dark Arts' snakes rereading the letter and going over everything he had ever done around, to, and toward Lily.  But nothing explained it.  It was inconceivable that the same girl who had whispered, "We'll show them," Monday could now send him this letter. 

     As he was walking in something like a daze toward his last class before dinner, Transfiguration, another folded bit of parchment rushed towards him.  Severus shoved it in his pocket, ignoring the curious looks his classmates were giving him.  He dropped to the back of the group before unfolding it, praying it was some sort of explanation for the previous note.  It was anything but that. 

     Snape-

I wish I had never met you.  Don't you ever speak to me or ever come near me ever again, or I'll tell my friends to hex you. 
-Lily

     Severus stopped walking.  This – this was impossible.  It was more impossible than the first letter.  He may not know her as well as Rose did, but he had been watching her for months, and he knew she would never tell anyone something like this. 

     He couldn't try to make sense out of it in class – McGonagall wasn't a person to be ignored.  But afterwards, as he took his usual seat in the Great Hall, he decided to wait until Lily arrived to act. 

     After a few minutes, Potter, Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew entered, laughing and talking as they made their way to the table.  Where were Lily and her sisters?  Restlessly he drummed his fingers on the table. 

     Then the door opened again, and Lily, Rose, and Evans – no, no, Mary, not Evans – walked in.  Lily had her arms crossed, looking slightly amused.  Rose was holding three sheets of paper, looking at them and whispering to Lily.  Mary leaned over Rose's shoulder, looking puzzled and something else Severus couldn't quite identify.  Suddenly, he and Lily's eyes locked, and to his surprise she only looked more amused.  She tilted her head back, as though to suggest they should step out, then told her sisters something, taking the letters out of Rose's hand.  They nodded and sat down at the Gryffindor table.  Severus was puzzled, but he rose and followed her out into the empty corridor. 

     "What did I do?" he blurted out as she turned to face him.  He pulled the letters out of his pocket and held them up.  "Can you please tell me what happened?"

     She raised her hands, holding the papers between her thumb and index finger.  "Before you say anything else, I think you ought to read these" -extending the letters to him.  As he slowly took them, she added, "I got them over the course of the day." She gently pulled the letters he had taken out of his pocket from between his fingers as he unfolded the first letter she had handed him. 

     Lily-
       I've finally come to my senses – you may be pretty, but there's no way I'm going to date a Mudblood.  It's over.

 -Severus

     And the second one read as follows:

     Evans-
        Or should I say Mudblood!  If you haven't gotten the point yet, let me say it clearly: I'm dumping you.  You actually thought I would date someone who was so close to Potter and Black? 
-Snape

     The third:

     Lily-
       Before I am branded with the reputation of having had dated a Mudblood for a full week, let's break it off.  It was fun seeing how gullible you were.  And a word of advice: next time, stick with your own kind. 
-Snape

     Disbelievingly, he first shook his head, then, desperate to make her believe him, cried, "Lily – I didn't write these, I swear I didn't-"

     She held up the two letters he had received, looking indignant.  "You actually thought I wrote these?"

     He paused.  "Well...I was in serious denial."

     She laughed, exchanging letters again.  "Severus, when I got the first letter I was stunned.  When I got the second I was confused.  When I got the third, I was ready to kill my friends."

     It dawned on him.  "You mean – they wrote these?" 

     "Of course," Lily said calmly.  "Who else?" She studied the letters he had received again.  "I think Peter wrote this one" -referring to the shorter, more laconic one- "and Sirius must have written the other one.  Now these" -flourishing the notes addressed to her- " are by, in order, David...Peter...and Sirius."

     "What about Potter?"

     "David wrote the first one," she repeated impatiently. 

     "No, I mean the other Potter."

     "James?  He didn't write one – none I can tell, anyway.  I wonder why." She frowned slightly, and then added, "And you can call them by their first names, you know.  Wait – do you even know their first names?"

     "Of course.  James Whatever-His-Middle-Name-Is-"

     "David."

     He blinked.  "Sorry?"

     "David.  That's his middle name.  James David Potter and David James Potter."

     Severus thought about this for a moment, and then shook his head.  "Their parents had a twisted sense of humor."

     "I like their parents," Lily said mildly.  "Can you tell them apart?"

     He flashed her a smile.  "Lily, I've known them longer than you have.  I can tell James David Potter and David James Potter apart.  Though it doesn't really matter – they're both just Potter to me."

     "They're different to me.  One's dating my sister.  The other isn't."

     "I shall not comment further.  Back to the original subject-" He gathered all five fake letters together.  "I think I shall have a word with Mr. David James Potter and Company.  Make that a few words.  Primarily in Latin."

     "No." She laid a hand on his arm.  "Let me talk to them this time, okay?  If they do this again, I'll let you deal with it, but I can handle it.  I've already told Rose to talk to David – I don't think he'll try anything like this again."

     "Perhaps.  You didn't really want to eat supper, did you?" he asked, realizing dinner was almost over. 

     She laughed.  "No, it's all right." Just then, the Great Hall doors burst open and a river of students poured out.  Lily rose onto her tiptoes, whispering to him as she took the letters out of his hand, "Meet me tomorrow after breakfast in the library." She gave him a swift kiss. 

     Potter, Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew had just appeared outside the Great Hall, all trying to look innocent and vaguely curious as to why Snape and Lily spent the entire dinner hour talking outside the Great Hall. 

      Lily took a few steps toward them, holding up their artwork and singing, "Oh, boys-"

     All five of them broke into a run toward Gryffindor Tower.  Lily streaked after them.  Her sisters emerged from the Hall, and seeing what was happening, tore after them too. 

     Severus couldn't help but laugh as he turned to go to his own common room. 

     Lily and Rose hadn't become any faster compared to the boys than they were back in Diagon Alley before their first year.  Mary, however, was surprisingly swift for her size.  In a few seconds she had passed Lily, gaining on the fugitives, and was weaving in and out of students with a knowledge of who-would-be-where-when and maneuvering that wasn't entirely natural.  Suddenly, with a complicated bit of Practical Magic, she managed to send Peter, who was at the back of the group, crashing into one of the knights against the wall.  The knight drew his sword with such fury and a threat about "striking off thy ears, thou impudent youth!" that Peter was moved to such speeds he would have not have ordinarily been able to reach. 

     By now they were quite close to their destinations – Sirius and James were shouting, "Rusty mailboxes!  Rusty mailboxes!" twenty feet before the portrait hole.  But the Fat Lady still didn't open until they reached it, and the delay gave the girls enough time to sufficiently catch up.  As the boys bounded inside, and leaped toward their staircase, Lily pulled out her wand and pointed it at neither her friends nor their goal, but the floor, and cried,

     "Elimentia Frictio!"

     As though the floor had been turned to waxed ice, all five boys slipped simultaneously and onto their backs, skidding uncontrollably across the common room, bouncing off first one wall, then the other. 

      "What did you do?" asked one first year of Lily in awe. 

     "I made the floor friction-free," Lily explained, watching the innocent Gryffindors scramble onto sofas, chairs, and table in an attempt to get out of the way of the sliding boys. 

      "Aren't you a prefect?" asked his friend skeptically. 

     "Yes, and they deserve it," she replied grimly, restoring friction with a wave of her wand before stepping into the room. 

     James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all a bit dazed – they had hit their head on something at least once.  Lily quickly preformed the Leg-Lock Curse on all of them, and then levitated them – with Rose and Mary's help – onto a couch, where they were lined up side by side.  With a number of "Accio!"s, she collected all their wands.  Lily sat down in a chair opposite them, looking sternly at them all.  Her sisters stood behind her. 

     "Lily," said Remus quickly, "James and I didn't write any of them."

     "I know," she said shortly, sorting out the letters and setting each one before its author on the table between the chair and couch.  "But you're going to stay and listen to this anyway."

     "Oh, go on Lil," Sirius broke in.  "We only did this for your own good!"

     "You did?" she said, raising her eyebrows questioningly. 

     "Well, yeah-"

     "You honestly though this was going to work?" she cried, slapping her hands down on Sirius and Peter's piles. 

     "Well..." David trailed off.  "The second and third ones were supposed to emphasize the point, not repeat it.  I guess we should have checked each others before sending them..."

     "And even if they didn't work," put in Sirius, "they could at least give you reasons why you should break up."

     Lily looked at him in disbelief, then took up one of Peter's letters and read it aloud.  " 'Snape.  I wish I had never met you.  Don't you ever speak to me or ever come near me ever again, or I'll tell my friends to hex you.  Lily.' " She set it back down.  "One: Peter, you used too many 'ever's.  Two: oh, that gives us lots of wonderful reasons to break up."

     Sirius leaned forward, holding up one, and then two fingers like Lily had.  "One: that's Peter – what do you expect?" ("Hey!") "Two: what about my letters?" He picked up his.  "You are too different, and I'm sure this one made him consider the effect you'll have on his reputation."

     "For your information, it didn't, and we are not," she snapped.  Then she sighed and rested her elbows on her knees, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips before raising her head.  "Look," she said slowly, "you are my friends, and I do respect your opinion, but you don't have a right to tell me who to date and who not to date.  I know you don't like my seeing Severus, but try to get over it.  Okay?" James was staring at the ground.  Sirius had crossed his arms defiantly.  David was nervously glancing from Rose to Lily.  Remus just shrugged.  He wasn't taking sides.  Peter was glancing at them all.  Lily groaned.  "Fine.  I know you're going to try again – at least you will, Sirius, and probably Peter.  Go ahead.  Severus and I have set up a special code for each time we send each other a letter, so we'll know if it's fake or not." It was actually the wrong tense – that's what she was planning to do tomorrow morning.  But Lily tossed her head, got up, and started walking up the girls' stairs. 

     "Oi!" David shouted.  "What about us?"

     "I really don't care," came her voice from the top of the stairs, beyond their line of sight.  "You can just stay there all night."

     "Really?" Mary asked, sounding amused and interested as she stood at the bottom of the staircase looking up.  She could arrange that. 

     "No.  Go ahead and let them go." Five wands fell in a rather controlled descent.  Mary caught them, preformed the counter curse on the boys, and distributed the wands.  They expected this; they knew Lily wouldn't really leave them there.  With many sullen looks toward the girls' stairs, they walked up their own. 

     The next morning, after breakfast, Lily was in the library, sitting at a table and flipping through several books.  She had only been there for a few minutes when Severus stepped out of the bookshelves and before she could say anything, he bent over and kissed her.  It was several moments before he stopped and finally sat down next to her.  Lily's eyes were rather bright.

     "Was there a special occasion for that?"

     "As a matter of fact, there was," he replied, smiling.  "A week ago was our first date."

     She laughed.  "It's only been a week!"

     "I don't care.  I had to find some excuse." He took her hand.  "What happened last night after I left?"

"Oh, Rose, Mary, and I chased them all the way to our tower.  I defrictionized the floor to make them all fall, then did the Leg-Locker Curse so they couldn't run away.  I took away their wands, lined them up on a sofa, and yelled at them for a while as they tried to argue.  In the end I just told them we had developed a code for any messages we send, so they couldn't do it again."

Severus raised his eyebrows.  "We did?"

"We're going to.  In fact, right now." But as Lily started to explain her ideas, Rose walked up.

"Hi guys," she said cheerfully, sitting on the table.

"Hello Rose," Severus said.

Lily questioned, "Where are the boys?"

"Distracted."

"Really?  Doing what, specifically?"

"Practicing Quidditch.  Should keep them busy for a few hours.  They lent Remus and Peter a couple of brooms."

"That's good.  Why aren't you with them?"

"Because it's not an official practice."

"Ah."

"I just came here to say that Lily, you need to tell our parents soon about your boyfriend."

She gasped.  "I do need to, don't I?"

"It's okay; we'll work on it together later." Rose assured her, and then glanced at Severus.

"Lily told me your house isn't going to have a problem with it."

"No, seeing the only beings there are my house-elves."

"That's good.  Well, I'll leave now so you can get back to whatever you were doing – I'll go and make sure they stay distracted.  Bye Lily, Severus."

The couple said goodbye as she left, and Severus commented, "She's nice.  A lot like you."

A smile flashed across her face.  "Thanks.  Okay, look what I have here – we need something that the boys can't read.  I'm thinking either a code or a disguise – you know, they see it as a piece of homework or something."

"Why not just make it invisible?"

"We can do that too.  What do you think?"

He tilted his head back.  "Well, I have a few good spells in mind – wait, how are we going to keep them from forging letters to us?"

"We need to come up with some sort of special mark – a very unique one.  Something they'll never guess." She bit her lip, thinking.  "Severus, what was your mother's maiden name?"

"Er – Sahn.  S-a-h-n."

"Okay.  Every time I write you a letter, I'll write Sahn underneath my signature."

"And what about disguises?"

Lily explained their options in detail, and they chose to make their notes invisible to everyone's eyes except their own.  They went on to charm a few of their quills so that whatever they wrote using them would become automatically invisible.  Severus cautioned her to never accidentally use them on her homework, which made her laugh.   He suggested several hexes that they could put on the notes that would hit the boys if they read them (i.e.  their eyes burst into flames that could only be quenched by a special salt that can only be found on the east coast of Borneo), but Lily said no.  Severus considered telling her about his idea, but decided not to.  It would be a surprise.

"As a last precaution," Lily told him, "if one of us ever decides to break up – I know, I know, don't give me that look – we will tell the other face to face.  Not through a note.  That way we'll know for sure."

"All right."

Lily blew out her breath.  "Okay – I think that's all.  I just wish there was some way we can spend more time together.  We hardly ever get to see each other."

Severus smiled sympathetically, rubbing her wrist with his thumb. 

Before either could say anything else, James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter emerged from an aisle, moving toward their table.  All of them were sweaty and dirty.  James was carrying a goblet of something.  Sirius was grinning.

"Hey Lil," he said.  They completely ignored Severus.

"Hello," she replied, eyeing them suspiciously.  Severus narrowed his eyes.  If they were planning to harass her-

"Right to the point," Sirius said briskly, clapping his hands on the table.  "Lil, you claim to – going against every sane principal and thing in this world – actually, truly, of your own will and choice, like-"

"Black, why don't you just shut up and leave before I get out my wand and make you?"

Sirius turned to him, shaking his head in a way that let them know he couldn't believe he was being interrupted.  "You know, Snape, I wasn't even talking to you, stay out of the bloody-"

Lily stood up.  "Sirius, that's my boyfriend you are talking to." There was a very tense silence, and then Lily whispered, "Now, either say what you were going to say, without the sarcasm and insults, or, if it's not that important, leave."

Sirius stared at the table for a moment, jaw tight with anger, then looked up calmly at his friend.

"Lil, you say that you like Snape, right?"

"Of course," she said sharply.  "Very much too, or he wouldn't be worth fighting with you guys over." David and Remus glanced at each other.  James stared into the goblet, but not for long.  Sirius took it from him and slammed it roughly in front of Lily.

"Then you wouldn't object to drinking an Anti-Love Potion."

Lily studied it, and then glanced at Severus, who was sitting back in his chair, looking highly amused.  He shrugged.

"I don't care.  It isn't going to change anything."

She picked the goblet up, holding it to the light as though to inspect the clear red liquid.  Her friends looked delighted.  Thoughtfully she carried it to the window, now holding it to the sunlight as she pushed the glass pane open a few inches.  Just as thoughtfully she turned the goblet upside-down, allowing the wine-like liquid to spill out onto the grounds below.  Simultaneously, the boys' looks of glee turned to outrage.

"What are you thinking?" David burst out.  "That potion took us an entire hour to make!"

But Lily lifted one hand to stop their protests.

"There are two kinds of Anti-Love Potions.  There are Anti-Love Potions, which work strictly against concocted Love Potions.  Then there are Anti-Love Potions, which work strictly against feelings of love.  In short, I don't trust you."

All of their mouths fell open, except Severus's, who simply raised his eyebrows.  Even he hadn't thought of that.

Lily quickly continued.  "But, just to completely demolish any ideas you might still have about Severus continually dosing me with Love Potions, I am going to go to our common room right now and make a real Anti-Love Potion.  Severus, I'll be back here in a little while."

He shook his head, getting to his feet and taking her hand in a possessive way that he knew would infuriate his enemies.  It nearly killed one of them.  "Lily, aren't we finished anyway?  You can stay in your tower and write that letter with Rose."

She hesitated.  "Oh – okay...well, if you're sure you don't mind..."

"I don't," he assured her.  Then, after a moment of thought, he kissed her.  He knew exactly what he was doing – kissing her in front of her friends.  He was determined to prove to them what he and Lily had was real – and this was the best way possible.  So he was sure to make it a show, though he meant it, of course.

By the time he released her, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes quickly flickered over to the boys.  When Severus saw their faces, he wished he had a camera.

J.  Potter was blissfully ignorant of what had happened – he was staring at the ground, where the goblet had been held above it.  But the rest of them – oh, it was priceless.

Each of them had an expression that was roughly equivalent to what it would have been if Albus Dumbledore had suddenly walked in, having completely shaved his head and beard, off, adorned in nothing but his underpants, and proceeded to lightly slap all of them, after which he announced his elopement with a Muggle girl named Marge Dursley.  Their expressions were ones of absolute disgust, revulsion, and sheer shock.  Severus loved it.

Fifteen minutes later, Severus was standing alone in the middle of an old, small, classroom on the sixth floor, holding his wand and the roll of parchment on which he had begun to sketch his idea.  It was a very old room – he doubted anything had ever crossed over the threshold in the last fifty years.  It only had about a dozen desks, and a larger one that the teacher must have used.  The room was probably used for a special class.  At any rate, it was perfect.

He started by transfiguring one of the desks into a small table, where perhaps a radio or clock could be placed.  Another three desks became a dresser, which was levitated against the wall.  A couple more were turned into a table with two chairs – for meals.  He had just turned to the teacher's desk when a sound from far down the corridor caught his ear.  After a second, he recognized it: Peeves.

Severus didn't try to hide his work; he simply faced the door, and levitated a glass jar out of the bag next to the doorway to him, which he nonchalantly held behind his back.  He had expected Peeves, of course, and he knew exactly how to deal with him.  Even a poltergeist could be put to use.

Peeves burst into the room, his beady eyes glittering maliciously.

"What do we have here?" he exclaimed, looking down at Severus.  "Snapey playing with the furniture of a classroom?  Naughty naughty, you'll get caughty!"

Severus frowned slightly.  In his first year he had overheard Peeves saying that same line with a third year.  He wondered how long he had been using that.

"It's my duty to tell one of the staff," Peeves was saying.  "The only question is which one, which one.  Filch or McGonagall?  Well, since you're using Transfiguration, and McGonagall is the-"

He decided it had gone far enough.  Raising his wand, he muttered an incantation he had first leaned when he was eight.  Peeves was cut off as suddenly his form began to twist and stretch, then spinning like a tornado to the jar Severus quickly held up.  Once every bit of Peeves had been crammed into it, he slapped on the lid, then tapped on it with his wand, which turned the lid to glass, which melted perfectly with the sides.  Now it was a glass jar with no holes, lids, or openings.  Severus began to lightly toss it into the air and catch it – with one hand.  Peeves, reduced to a fog-like substance, was sputtering incoherently.

"Ever heard the Muggle stories about the genie in the bottle?" Severus asked him brightly.  "Now we have a poltergeist in a bottle!" Even though the victim was barely more than a vapor, his furious face could still be made out.  "And before you try to break out," he went on unconcernedly, continuing to throw the jar up in the air, "you should know that I didn't put an Unbreakable Charm on it.  Oh no.  It's something much more complex.  If this glass shatters" -he caught it and tapped the side with his fingertip- "so will you.  Basically, whatever this glass contains will immediately become like glass if it breaks.  See?"

It was amusing to watch the change in the mist's features.  For good measure he added, "And one more thing." He threw the jar higher than he had before, caught it, and told him, "I'm not left-handed." Peeves looked clueless until Severus raised his right hand – the one holding his wand – and waved it in front of the jar.  "This is my right hand."

Now the imprisoned poltergeist was terrified.  "Mr. Snape, sir, I was only joking with you!  I wasn't going to turn you in!  You know that I'm not on good terms with Filch or McGonagall-"

"Oh really?" Severus questioned acidly, tossing it up and nearly missing on purpose.

Peeves surrendered.  "I'll do anything, sir, anything!"

"That's good, Peeves," he said coldly.  "That's very good.  Because you will do anything and everything.  Are you listening?"

"Yes, sir!"

"First and foremost, you will not tell anyone, living or dead, about this room.  Secondly, if you see a teacher or a student examining the wall where the door was, you will throw them off track – make up an explanation.  Thirdly, you will never enter or attempt to enter this room again.  Fourthly, you will never harass, directly or indirectly, a fifth year Gryffindor named Lily Evans.  She's a prefect.  Do you know her?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good." A thought occurred to him.  "Or her sisters, Rose Evans and Mary Evans.  You should know them also.  Now, these rules are in effect as long as you stay at Hogwarts.  If you ever break one in the slightest way, I will find you, I will catch you, and when I do, you will wish you were back inside this bottle.  Are you clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

Severus tapped the top of the jar again, making it disappear completely.  Peeves shot out of it, the room, and down the hall like a bullet.  Very pleased with how he handled the would-be nuisance, the Slytherin turned to the large desk.  That went well.  Back to business.

He wanted to make it a bed, but something told him Lily would find that far too suggestive.  A sofa would be too little.   He made a compromise, and turned it into a futon.  Next he built a fireplace into a wall – that was harder.  Once that was complete, he turned the extra desks into pebbles and tossed them out the window.  No loss.  Dumbledore could make new ones any time he wanted.  The windows were made to appear as part of the wall from the outside.  He saved the hardest part for last – the door.

Severus studied it for several minutes before beginning.  It was tricky, really – he wanted the door to completely disappear, opening only from the outside under his or Lily's wand, and from the inside under their touch. 

It was very frustrating.  Once he did manage to erase the door, he couldn't open any exit at all, and right before he was about to give up and climb out the window, the door reappeared – in its original state.

But in the end, finally, the wall made a hole under his touch or wand. 

Tired but pleased with himself, it was nearly past ten o'clock at night when Severus put his hand against the wall, causing it to make a door-size hole for him to exit.  Tomorrow he would introduce Lily to their room and install her power over the wall.  Oh, that would be fun.

Earlier that day, while Severus had just started his work on the classroom, Lily was entering her common room, closely followed by her sulking friends.  They hadn't said anything the entire way, which unsettled her quite a bit, but merely stared at her as though she had done something heinous.  Truthfully, the five boys had finally seen something that was beyond words, even for Sirius.  To see one of their best friends let a boy that they loathed for years and honestly believe deserved no one do something like that to her...they were silenced.  Temporarily.

Lily went to a table that still had a cauldron and a Potions book on it.  James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter stood silently in a semi-circle in front of her.  Sirius took a deep breath, trying to ensure his voice wouldn't shake.

"There is going to be a day when you regret that."

She looked up at him sharply.  "Oh, Sirius, please don't start that up again.  I'm about to prove to you that it's real, so can you please save all your comments until afterward?" He frowned, crossing his arms defiantly.   Sighing, the prefect pushed her hair behind her ears and started on the potion.  She worked in silence, intent upon her task, grateful for all the little tricks and tips Severus had taught her.

Finally, it was done.   Ladling the required amount into the goblet Peter had, she raised it into the air, regarding it squarely, and then downed it in a single gulp. 

The boys watched her anxiously with bated breath, perhaps James most anxious of all.  Perhaps – just perhaps – she was acting under the influence of a potion – he could still ask her out.  They could have a fresh start.  It would work, he knew it.

"Well?" Sirius pressed impatiently.

She fixed him with her icy green eyes.  "Well what?"

"How do you feel about Severus Snape?" he specified.  "What are you going to do about him?"

Lily tilted her head back, pondering her answer, and then answered with decision, "I'm going to go write a letter to my parents about my new boyfriend." Before they could react, she disappeared up her stairs.

With a groan James fell backwards into an armchair.  "They're never going to break up – they're going to get married-"

"Don't be stupid," said Sirius roughly, spinning around to face his best friend.  "They're so different I'm shocked they've made it this far.  You know Snape; you know Lily.  Can you think of any other two people who are more complete opposites?"

"You and McGonagall?" Peter offered.

Sirius glared at him.  "You aren't helping!" he hissed.

Peter shrugged, embarrassed.  "Sorry."

The black haired boy turned back to James.  "Listen, you know they're not going to last long.  Don't give up."

"Yeah..." James stood and drifted up to the boys' dorm.

After dozens of crumpled up attempts to write their parents a letter that wouldn't make them keel over in shock.  Lily and Rose finally had one that they believed was as good as it was going to get.  They called Mary, who was doing homework in her own dorm, to come proofread it. 

Dear Anetka and Nicki,

How are you?  I hope things are going all right at home and Petunia and Vernon aren't having any problems.  Everything's fine here – the boys haven't been expelled yet or even suspended.  Lily's still top of her year, with James coming right behind.  David and Rose are fine too.

Speaking of relationships, Lily's finally accepted a date from a boy.  He's very nice to both of us.  His name is Severus – we'll send you a photo of him as soon as possible.

We love you and can't wait to see you again!

Your daughters,

Lily and Rose

Mary nodded.  "Do they even know who he is?"

"The boys might have mentioned Snape," Rose admitted.  "But I'm almost positive Anetka and Nicki don't know his first name."

"They're going to ask what house he's in," Mary warned, sitting down.  "Along with his life story."

"I know..." Lily restlessly stood and moved to stare out the window.  "I'll just tell them when they ask.  That's all."

Both her sisters and she both knew that wasn't all, but there wasn't any point in saying so.