A/N: Hi everyone! Yes, I am completely aware that this update is about three months late, but schoolwork took over completely and I had to surrender to the beast that is homework and final exams. Now however, IT IS SUMMER and I can actually dish out a hearty helping of updates for you all these next three months! This will not be like last summer because I will ACTUALLY be updating! Hopefully, I update enough to get this entire fic done, or at least halfway there so I don't constantly leave you in suspense. Anyway, I love you all and thank you for your continued support! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I would be stealing from a queen and we simply cannot have that. Harry Potter belongs to the one and only Queen Rowling.
Lily POV: One month or so had passed since I saw Sirius confront James about the two of us and the pair still weren't speaking. Every time James and I were together, whether it be cuddling after everyone had gone from the common room or sharing secret glances across the potions classroom, I could tell that even though he was happy, he wasn't quite himself.
He and Remus kept to themselves during all meals as Sirius and Peter completely avoided them. The fight between the foursome wasn't just affecting them or me; it was affecting the entirety of Gryffindor House, and by extension the whole school. When the four of them were together there was always certain liveliness in the air, and now that their relationship was strained, the school's usually upbeat atmosphere was at a standstill. As a matter of fact, the entire house had seemed to notice the discord between the usually inseparable foursome, but no one seemed to know the source of it; except for me.
Some days were better than others. On good days, the worst that could be seen by me out in the open was the occasional evil glare from Sirius from across the Great Hall or one of the classrooms. The bad days however, took on the ugliest form imaginable. It was one thing to see James and Sirius mad at one another, but to see them physically have a go at each other was something different entirely.
Just yesterday morning in fact I'd been walking out of the Hall with Alice, quietly confiding in her that I was worried about how this whole spat was affecting James when I saw it.
Flashback:
"Do you think they'll get past this?" I'd asked Alice desperately, lowering my voice even more as people passed, hoping to keep my secret a secret from other unwanted eavesdroppers. "James and Sirius?"
She simply scoffed as she picked up one final piece of toast and began to follow the throng of students out of the Hall. "Calm down Lily," she said through her mouthful of toast. "Knowing James and Sirius, this is all going to be water under the bridge very soon. They'll be back to pulling pranks on Severus and annoying you in no time. Even Remus says so."
Alice's advice, no matter right or wrong, was always a comfort to me. In this case however, I was happy to have Remus's insight available to me. Alice may act like she knows everything about everyone, but James Potter and his little group has been and always will be a foreign concept to the both of us. So having someone who knew them well was a great help.
"Yes," I said softly. "Yes, I suppose you're right." And then I heard it.
"YOU SELFISH, SMARMY GIT!"
"SHUT UP, MATE! YOU KNOW WHY I HAD TO DO THIS!"
"NO I DON'T! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE BEST MATES! YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME! YOU SHOULD HAVE TRUSTED ME!"
"IT'S NOT THAT I DON'T TRUST YOU! I JUST KNOW WHO YOU'LL USE IT AGAINST!"
Alice and I stopped dead. The other students seemed unfazed by the scene going on a corridor away, at least for now. I had to find a way to stop this before either James or Sirius did something they regretted. I broke out into a run with Alice hot on my heels until I reached the loud, familiar voices.
Both the face of my boyfriend and his best mate were livid, each looking like they were ready to attack the other at a moment's notice. And then they saw me.
James' hardened expression crumpled as soon as our eyes met and he became much warmer, instantly moving to get to me. "Hello love," he whispered in my ear as he snuggled his face into the top of my head and wound his arms around my middle.
I let myself enjoy the warmth that his embrace provided me with for only a moment before I tilted my head to look at him. "What's going on, James?"
"Noth-"
"I'll tell you what's going on Evans," Sirius interrupted, spitting my name like a dirty curse word. "I'd really prefer that my best mate were honest with me about what was going on in his life, and I'm not too keen on the fact that I was lied to. So I just have to know what would compel him to do such a thing. Was it you that told him I was untrustworthy?"
"What?" I gasped. "N-no, Sirius! Of course not, I know you're trustworthy. That's not why-"
"Oh come off it," he groaned. "I'm not that thick, Evans. It's no secret that you detest me and the rest of us. Come to think of it, why even date James now? Did you lose some kind of bet with your little girlfriends?"
"Don't you talk to my girlfriend like that!" James said firmly. "You know full well that I trust you, and nobody, not even Lily would be able to convince you that I shouldn't. If you just knew the whole story, you'd know why we didn't tell you!"
"Because you don't want me to rat you out to Snivelly, I get it," he rolled his eyes. "You should have known better Potter, don't come crying to me when this little wench breaks your heart."
There was a dead silence in which nobody moved a muscle for about a minute. Then, very gently, James kissed my forehead and gently pushed me towards Remus. He got right up in Sirius' face, stood there for a moment, and then punched him square in the jaw. The blow echoed throughout the still empty corridor. The noise of the approaching students was growing nearer, but the boys didn't seem to notice and I was too stunned to utter a word of warning. James leaned down and whispered something in his friend's ear got up and returned to my side once again.
I was just about to say something, but the voice of Professor McGonnagal beat me to it.
"What on earth happened here?!" She shrieked, her eyes jumping from the bleeding form of Sirius on the ground to James, Remus and I standing there shocked in the corner. Other students began to gather and excitedly assess the scene, but she ignored them. "Mr. Pettigrew!" She barked at Peter, who was currently cowering in a corner. "Take Mr. Black to the hospital wing immediately! You three," she looked at us. "Wait for me in my office; I would like an explanation for all of this! As for the rest of you, return to your houses! There is nothing to see for you all to be lollygagging about!"
With a start, each and every onlooker seemed to run in different directions towards their respective portrait holes. We on the other hand began the horrifying descent to our head of house's office.
"What do we tell McGonnagal, mate?" Remus whispered earnestly, still on the lookout for any voyeurs.
"The truth," James said immediately, his voice grim. "The whole truth and we beg her to keep our secret until we decide to make everything known."
"You honestly think McGonnagal will harbor a secret that a few fifth years ask her to keep?" I wondered incredulously. "You must be joking!"
"I wish I were, dear Lily Flower. But to be perfectly honest, if there is any teacher I trust with anything at Hogwarts besides Dumbledore, it'll be McGonnagal. Despite her all-too-frightening demeanor she's quite the decent woman."
He said that just as we rounded the corner and came face to face with a small tabby cat. James' entire face flushed as both Remus and I fought back our laughter. In the blink of an eye Professor McGonnagal was standing before us, her expression equal parts of amused and indifferent.
"Why thank you for the compliment Potter," she said stiffly. "However, if you think that flattery will help you work your way out of this one, you are sadly mistaken. Inside, now."
I took a seat in the middle chair opposite the Deputy Headmistress' desk, with James on my right and Remus on my left. James made a point of gently taking my hand and placing our intertwined ones underneath his leg so that our professor wouldn't make assumptions before we explained ourselves.
When she finally took her seat across from us, she stared each of us down for a moment before finally saying, "Well, of all the strange happenings I've had to endure during my time teaching at Hogwarts, never have I encountered a trio quite as peculiar as this one. Ms. Evans," she turned to me bluntly.
"Y-yes professor," I squeaked, shrinking back slightly in my seat. As far as I knew McGonnagal liked me well enough and I had never been in trouble with her, but I had heard about her wrath, and I was not looking forward to being on the receiving end.
"Being head of Gryffindor House, I am fairly aware of what goes on between my students, whether I would like to be or not, and according to my observations, it is to my knowledge that you are not in any way affiliated with Potter or his band of cohorts, as a matter of fact you seem to detest them. Is that correct?"
I felt James give my hand a light squeeze. "Well yes professor, it was but-"
"And Mr. Potter and Mr. Lupin, it goes without saying that you two are practically joined at the hip with both Mr. Black and Mr. Pettigrew. Correct?"
"Yes professor," James said. "But-"
She held up a hand, cutting him off once again. "So then, why exactly is it that I walk into a corridor to see your best friend lying on the ground in a puddle of his own blood with the most unlikely girl as a bystander?"
"Professor, I promise you there is a story behind it all, and we will tell you everything. But can you please, just this once, promise that nothing we tell you will ever leave this room; at least not until we're ready."
McGonnagal sat there, looking taken aback. "Mr. Potter, I can assure you that I will do what I can to respect your wishes, but as your teacher and the woman responsible for you all during your time here, if there is something inappropriate going on, I must perform my duty and notify Professor Dumbledore at once. Is that understood?"
"Yes ma'am," we all murmured, all grateful that at least, if she were to tell someone, it would be Dumbledore and not the entire House.
"Well," James began awkwardly, slowly sliding our connected hands out from underneath him. "It all really starts with this." He held our hands up to show her.
The Deputy Headmistress stood there stunned blinked and then flashed a rare smile. "Finally," she sighed, shocking us all. "What does this, I am assuming, recent development have to do with today's incident?" she asked, addressing any of the three of us.
"Well you see," Remus began, speaking for the first time since we entered the room. This all sort of began when Lily finally discovered she'd taken a liking to James, here. They started talking more, having secret late night meetings in the common room so that nobody knew. Naturally however, I caught on fairly quickly and have been helping James and Lily hide this relationship from Sirius and Peter ever since."
"Why hide it, though?" she wondered. "If Mr. Potter and Mr. Black are as close as they seem, there should have been no reason for him not to be trusted with knowing something so important."
"We are professor," James assured her. "It's just that Sirius sometimes doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut, and seeing as we're trying to keep this a secret from one particular student, we don't want anyone else finding out and possibly letting out the can of worms in his direction so to speak."
"But who could you possibly need to keep it from?" McGonnagal inquired. "Surely there isn't some sort of case of infidelity going on, Ms. Evans?"
"No professor!" I assured her quickly. "It's just… as you probably know I've had an amazing friendship with Severus Snape for many years now. And well, it's no secret that he doesn't exactly like James or any of his friends. He knew James fancied me, and he told me to steer clear and that if James ever tried to make a move he'd personally tear him limb from limb. When I found out how I truly felt about James, I made a promise to myself not to let James get hurt, and to somehow let Severus know in a way that wouldn't set him off, ands seeing as Sirius seems to enjoy doing things to provoke Sev-"
"You thought that telling him would jeopardize both Mr. Potter's safety and your friendship," she finished for me.
"Yes ma'am," I hung my head. James reached over and began to rub small circles on my back.
"Alright then," she concluded. "So him finding out must have been what led to the fight this morning after breakfast."
James nodded. "He'd come up to me and confronted me, demanding to know why I'd been such a terrible mate and not told him. I tried to explain the situation but he wouldn't let me. That's when Lily showed up and he started firing off insults at her, blaming her for my not trusting him, which by the way is a complete lie. That's what led up to me hitting him. I didn't want to, but at the same time I wanted to defend Lily."
"Fair enough," she said coolly. "One final thing, though. When I walked up you looked like you had just muttered something into Mr. Black's ear. What did you say?"
"Oh that," recalled James, his voice suddenly turning dark. "I told him that just for those comments alone he was dead to me, and that if I ever heard him utter another word against Lily again I would skin him with my bare hands. That's when you came in."
There was a very brief silence in which Professor McGonnagal surveyed each of us very closely. "Very well," she finally sighed. "I will keep your secret, but only for a short time. You must decide for yourselves how to make amends and let the truth come out. Heed my warning and do it sooner rather than later, before something spills out and more damage is caused than necessary."
We both nodded quickly, feeling equally grateful. "However," she added, turning suddenly stern. "I will be taking ten points from Gryffindor on account of unnecessary violence and threats no matter how gallant on your behalf, Mr. Potter, and five points from each Ms. Evans and Mr. Lupin for sheer idiocy in standing by and allowing this to happen. You are dismissed."
We all thanked her profusely and went our separate ways, each of preparing ourselves mentally for the gossip that was to come about after today.
End Flashback
And sure enough the gossip came, but I tried to ignore it all and not respond, as had the others. Some rumors stated that James had found out I had some secret affair going on with Sirius and he got pissed because that broke the "Bro Code" and he just flat-out decked Sirius. Others stated that I was dating James in secret, and Sirius had gotten jealous and the two best mates were duping it out right then and there for my heart. Well, at least the second one was half right. I just wondered which one Severus had heard.
I hadn't seen him since before the incident, and was both anxious and curious to see what he'd made of the whole ordeal.
Sure enough, just as I was about to reach the portrait hole of the Gryffindor common room, he appeared out of nowhere and I nearly leapt out of my skin. "What the hell, Sev?!" I gasped as he doubled over laughing. "Why on earth would you do that to me?"
He chuckled and pulled me into a brief hug. "Sorry Lils, just thought I'd have a bit of a laugh after all the rubbish I've been hearing all morning."
My stomach dropped. Oh crap, no. He knew. Of course he knew, how could he not? "W-what rubbish have you heard?" I stuttered, attempting to sound nonchalant and praying this was somehow an entirely different form of rubbish.
He chuckled heartily at my obviously panicked expression and patted me gently on the shoulder. "Just a whole lot of lies. Some idiot seventh years are saying they saw you caught in the middle of a fist fight between Potter and Black. As if!"
When I didn't say anything back, he looked up at me confusedly. "Lily, are you okay? What's the- Oh Merlin, please tell me that that's not true, Lily!"
He took my silence as exactly what it was: a confirmation of the inevitable. I geared myself up mentally for his response when I finally told him the truth. "Lord Lily," he sighed. "What were you thinking? You can't mediate between those fools, Potter will probably think you're doing it for his benefit. Besides, he's not right for you anyway, Lily." He whispered, finally looking up into my eyes and smiling sheepishly.
I didn't like where this was going one bit. I'd never seen my best friend with that look in his eyes, but I didn't like it at all. "What are you saying?" I asked guardedly.
Severus took one step closer and wound an arm tightly around my waist. "What I've wanted to say for so long," he whispered after a moment, and bent his head closer to mine. I tried to back away, but being against the wall there was absolutely no room. "I love you Lily Evans," he said, and then leaned in to kiss me.
My first thought was that it was awful, nothing had ever felt so terrible. My second thought was to get my git of a best friend off me before I, or James, killed him. I tried to push him off but he was too strong, Tears began to spill over my eyelids. James would never forgive me.
All of a sudden though, Severus was being pried off of me and thrown to the ground. I collapsed against the wall just as a voice said, "Are you alright, Lily?"
A/N: So that was a longer chapter to make up for the lateness of the last update! Let me know if you guys liked it and who you think Lily's defender there at the end was! I'll see you all sometime in the next week or so! Love you!
Thanks for Reading!
-thewolfgurlgleek :)