Chapter 12

It was shortly after breakfast the next day. Severus Snape had just left the Great Hall and was on his way back to the Slytherin common room, when he heard quick footsteps approach him from behind. Automatically, he reached for his wand, but when he turned, he had no more time to draw it, for somebody crashed into him, and two arms were thrown around his neck ...For a split of a second he was about to struggle, when suddenly he realized ...

„Lily?"

Lily Evans was clinging to him for dear life. Her whole body trembled, and for minutes she was sobbing into his chest, apparently unable to regain composure. Severus was shocked, and confused. He cast a quick glance round: The corridor was deserted, everybody obviously was still in the Great Hall. With uncertain and clumsy movements he started to stoke Lily's back to comfort her. „What is it, Lily? What has happened?"

But she still seemed unable to speak coherently, and only just he was able to pick up tree words: „Potter ... sweets … love-potion ..."

Severus Snape felt as if somebody had pierced his heart with an knife made of ice. He paled and almost lost his balance as realization hit him with terrible force. His plot ... his plot … What had he done? What had he ... How could he have made such a ... such a stupid ... such an unforgivable mistake? He simply hadn't realized ... he hadn't ... blinded by his hatred, he had only thought about what would happen to Potter, how he would be expelled and he, Severus, would at last get his revenge! All the countless times Potter and Black had humiliated him ... it was all their fault! Their fault that Lily didn't speak to him any more, that she loathed him – his Lily, the only girl he'd ever loved! And now he had ... O Merlin, what have I done! He felt a wave of nausea wash over him, followed by self-disgust, so intense he almost couldn't bear it. I didn't want this to happen! I never wanted you to be hurt! I would rather die than ... He felt tears in his eyes and fought them back. It was too late. He couldn't undo what had happened, and nobody would ever believe that he really had not thought of the consequences for her, that he had not planned it that way. It was too late. He had made a terrible mistake, and now he had to live with it, with his guilt, his regret, his shame ... The only thing he could do now was carry on his plan. The damage was done, and it wouldn't help Lily if he confessed and sacrificed himself. No, quite the opposite, it would make things worse, fare worse for her: To him she had come for consolation ... didn't that prove she still cared? And he would do anything for her, he vowed to himself, anything at all, for the rest of his life if necessary, to make up for what he had done. But he only could do it if he stayed with her, here at Hogwarts, and after graduation ... he had to finish school, and maybe it wasn't too late after all, to late to set things right between them, and in his life! Maybe, if he would not join the Death Eaters, if he would show Lily that he cared, that he was willing to change, just for her ... but he had to stick to his plan then! Things had gone too fare to stop them now! He had no choice: He had to stick to his plan!

When Lily looked up, Severus' face was inexpressive, which made a strange and rather disturbing contrast to the concern in his voice: „What about Potter and a love-potion?"

„He ... he ..." She struggled with the words. „He ... sweets ... and then ... I ..." At this point she was unable to continue and again buried her face in his chest.

This words, he decided, would have told him everything even if he hadn't known what happened. „That bastard!" he hissed. „You have to tell Dumbledore! That's a crime, Potter is gonna be expelled for it!"

„I can't tell ..." Lily sobbed. „I can't tell anybody!"

„You told me."

She looked up. „You're a friend, Sev."

His heartbeat quickened and he couldn't help but smile. „It's been a long time since you've called me that, Lily."

She only nodded.

Stick to your plan, Severus! he told himself. Don't let yourself get distracted! „You have to tell Dumbledore, Lily!" he said quietly. „I know it's hard, but there's no other way! Think about it: What if Potter does it again?" He felt her body stiffen in his arms; obviously she hadn't thought about that. „I'm coming with you, and I'll tell Dumbledore what happened ... what you told me – he will know what to do then. Deal?"

„Deal."

Two minutes later they arrived at the door of Dumbledore's office. Being Prefects, they both knew the password („Knusperkeks"), so the stone-gargoyle leaped aside and allowed them to enter. Severus looked down at Lily, draw a deep breath and knocked.

„Enter."

Albus Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, looking mildly surprised. However, his expression changed instantly when he perceived the state Lily was in. „Miss Evans! Please, sit ... you too, Mr. Snape." He conjured a large handkerchief and a huge mug of steaming hot chocolate and gave both to Lily, who thanked him with a small smile. "That's better. And now, if you feel like it, please tell me that happened!"

"I will do that, sir." And so Severus told in a few short sentences what had happened – about the fight (everybody knew about the fight), and about the Amortentia in Lily's sweets. Dumbledore's expression didn't show much while he listened, there was only a slight frown when he said: "That are very serious accusations, and quite frankly I'd be most surprised and severely shocked if Mr. Potter indeed should have done something that horrible! On the other hand I know you, Miss Evans, would never rise such accusation without reason. So of course this has to be investigated, and we will start by questioning Mr. Potter himself." He clapped his hands, and a second late a house-elf apparated next to his chair with a typical crack. „You have called, Professor Dumbledore, sir?"

„Yes, Steward", Dumbledore confirmed. [A/N: I don't see why all house-elves must have names like Dobby, Winky, Blinky etc. – well, and Kreacher „Please get Mr. Potter and bring him here immediately!"

„Yes, sir." And with another crack, Steward had vanished.

Only minutes later there was a knock at the door, and James Potter entered. Severus had to admit that Potter was a good actor, the change of expressions – surprised puzzlement about being summoned the headmaster's office, intense dislike when he saw him, and care and concern when he perceived Lily – were completely convincing. "Here I am. Professor", he said. "What can I do for you?" His gaze flickered between Dumbledore, Lily and Severus, and he looked confused.

"Please take a seat." Dumbledore's voice was very grave. "I'd like you to answer some questions, Mr. Potter, in order to clarify the circumstances of a certain … incident." He gave Potter one of his famous piercing looks. "Maybe you already know what I'm talking about?"

"No, Professor, I don't."

"Very well. Did you buy a box of sweets for Miss Evans yesterday?"

"Yes, sir. We … I had acted like an idiot before, and she was mad at me, so I tried to apologize …"

"You gave it to her personally?"

"No, Professor. She was up in the girl's dormitories and refused to come down, so I asked Tara – Miss Whitman – to bring it to her." He had kept glancing at Lily all the time, who had started sobbing again silently, her head resting at Severus' shoulder, and concern, jealousy and confusion mingled in his expression. "Please, sir, what's this all about? Why is Lily … and what's he doing here?"

"Like you don't know!" Severus snarled, but Dumbledore held up a hand. "Please refrain from interrupting, Mr. Snape. It's my part to question Mr. Potter, not yours."

"Yes, Professor."

Dumbledore turned back to Potter. "The sweets in that box were spiked with love-potion. Was this your doing, Mr. Potter?"

Potter's eyes widened with shock. "Of course not, sir! I'd never do something that horrible, and least of all to Lily!"

"Obviously he's lying! Who else could have spiked the gingerbread? He …"

"Mr. Snape, be quiet, or you'll have to leave!" Dumbledore's tone was sharp, and Severus hung his head. "Sorry, sir. Won't happen again."

"I hope so." Dumbledore seemed to think about something for a while. Then he spoke again. "It seems to me, what we have two choices to find out the truth: Legilimens or Veritaserum. Which one do you prefer, Mr. Potter?"

Now, Potter looked really shocked and scared, and Severus inwardly smiled. Gottcha, bastard! There was no way for Potter to refuse, it would have been highly suspicious. Only a few minutes, and revenge would be his! He would be the one who got the great James Potter expelled from Hogwarts! Only very few people would know, of course, but it would be a sweet feeling nonetheless! He was caught so deeply in his visions that he almost missed Potter's answer: "Veritaserum, sir – if I have to choose."

"I'm afraid you have to. But I assure you that I'll only ask questions strictly related to the accusation – and I'm the only one who will ask any questions!" He gave Severus a meaningful look, who nodded: "Understood, sir."

"Good." Dumbledore drew his wand and conjured a goblet of pumpkin-juice out of thin air. Then he opened one of his cabinets, took out a small phial that contained a completely colorless liquid and poured three drops of it into the goblet. "Drink this."

Potter hesitated for a moment, then took the goblet and drained it.

Dumbledore waited a few seconds, the cleared his throat. "Very well then. Mr. Potter, you bought a box of sweets for Miss Evans yesterday?"

"Yes."

"And Miss Whitman gave this box to Miss Evans?"

"Not exactly, sir. She told me she'd put it next to her bed, so Lily would find it there."

Dumbledore nodded, satisfied. It was typical for a person under the influence of Veritaserum that they'd answer very precisely, even tell details they had not mentioned earlier. "Tell me what happened then."

"Well …" Potter was obviously uneasy. "I waited down in the common room for her reaction, and suddenly Lily came running down the stairs and started to kiss me." He blushed. "Then she took my hand and led me to an empty classroom, where …" But Dumbledore interrupted him after a quick glance to Lily, who looked horrified. "Stop. We'll skip the details. Just answer one question: Did you take advantage of Miss Evans in any way?"

Only one second! You'll say 'yes', and everything will be over! You'll never graduate, and you'll have to be grateful if you don't end up in Azkaban! You'll be an outcast … come on! Say it! Yes … yes …y-

"No."

"What?" I must have … I must have misheard him! "What?"

"No." James Potter repeated calmly. "I did not take advantage of Lily. I became uneasy very quickly, and I felt that something strange was going on, so I asked her to slow down a little … And when she wouldn't listen, I realized that somehow she had to be under the influence of a love-potion, that she didn't know what she was doing – that she didn't do it willingly. I knew I had to stop her for her own good, but since I didn't want to resort to physical force, I stunned her!"

Severus stared at him, dumbfounded, stunned, shocked. What the hell was going on here? He looked at Dumbledore for help, but the old man looked quite content with himself, he did not even seem to be surprised … but there was something strange in the way he returned his look …

Severus turned to Lily. She had told him about … she would know that … but Lily, he suddenly realized, was no longer sitting next to him, she was standing next to Potter now, and … were they holding hands? Severus felt as if the world had just turned upside down. Thoughts were spinning in his head, nothing made sense any more … "Lily …" he managed to splutter, "Lily, you … you told me …"

"I", Lily, who didn't cry any more, spoke in an icy voice that made Severus' blood curdle, "didn't tell you anything, Snape! I said only three words to you: Potter, sweets and love-potion. Everything else, you came up with. And I would really like to hear how you could possibly know that the sweets in that box were gingerbread, and that the love-potion used was Amortentia!"