"I cannot believe it! I cannot believe that you would do something like that!" Lily was screaming. They stood outside in the main courtyard and were starting to attract an audience. So far she had him pretty flustered.

"Calm down," he tried.

"No, I will not! I could not believe my eyes when I saw how many points Slytherin had lost! You actually- that you actually used spells commonly used in duels!" She spat the last word to enforce her point.

"You don't understand. They were going to burn your Bible."

"Then you should have let them!" He took a step back in self-defense. Girls could be so confusing sometimes. Why would she want that? "You should have let them!" she repeated. "But instead you stoop to their level. Honestly, how could you?"

"It would have been different if they were Gryffindor. Nobody would care then."

"Including me?" Her hands flew to her hips accusingly.

"I didn't say that."

"You wanted to. They weren't James Potter. They weren't hexing you."

"So it is different!"

"Yes. You didn't have to defend yourself. But you used such awful magic. Where did you learn such things? I've heard- How long before you start using Dark Magic?" He stared at her, dumbfounded.

"I'm not going to run off and join You-Know-Who, for pete's sake! I was reading your Bible." The day was cloudy (it was almost November, after all) and chilly, but it was downright frosty now. Her red hair was pulled back, and she blew a strand out of her hair that had escaped. She was beautiful, he thought.

Don't even talk like that. Just- don't. Please." He threw his hands up, unsure why he had elicited such a reaction.

"Okay, jeez. It's just that you seemed so eager to throw away our friendship over this whole thing." He glared at her and she glared back.

"Oh, really. You should know better. You can't ever break what we have, Sev."

"You don't mean that."

"That's plain shallow. You're the first magical person I ever met and you will always be a part of me, Severus Snape. And I do mean that." The seriousness with which she had spoken this, even while fighting with him, nearly knocked the wind out of him. It hit him full-force, and it was so evident on his face she laughed. "You brought it."

"You now me too well." With that they moved to the shade of a willow tree, their backs up against the bark. She was sure now that this was the only way to tear him from this dark path he was on, and was determined to do it. They were part of the way through Galatians when his small, jagged voice cut across hers. "Lils? If God exists, why do bad things happen at all?"

"I take that to mean you believe God exists."

"I do." Nothing- nothing could have been so heartening as that. She felt ashamed at how relieved she was. Didn't she believe in him? After how hard he was trying? She found herself biting her lip without knowing it. "I do," he repeated, whispering to himself. She smiled.

"Humans were not created evil. Adam, the first man, and Eve, his wife, lived in the Garden of Eden…" And so she related the story of Genesis 1-3. She could tell that he didn't believe the creation story, but it was far-fetched, and she refused to let this hurdle be so crippling. She wasn't going to give up so easily.

"Does God know what is going to happen in people's lives?" he asked then. This seemed easy enough.

"Obviously. He created us, didn't He?" she prodded, suspecting he was not going to let her off so easy. He rarely ever did.

"Well, if things happen like you say," he began, "Didn't he know that they were going to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?" Well, that was a stumper. Her features actually darkened, revealing to him what dark territory he had delved into. It was moments like that which riddled him with doubts, but so far she had quelled every single one of them. If she couldn't this time, that tiny seed of faith inside him would blow away. She must have known this, for she soon schooled her expression.

"No. He knows what happens to us before we're born because He created us with a purpose, just like He created them. He created them to live in paradise and be happy. How could He have any idea they would disobey?"

"Is it really that easy to succumb to Satan? That's obviously who the serpent is. Which gives serpents a bad rap, but… it makes Eve kinda dumb. The snake told her it was okay, that God was wrong. How was she supposed to know God's always right- how can she tell the difference between right and wrong if she has no knowledge of good or evil?"

"Yes, it is that easy to be deceived by the devil. You saw, he's always like that. But she was told not to, she did it anyway. That's why it's so bad."

"Then how can anyone defeat the devil?"

"By asking God for help. Knowing the truth of the Word so that you don't fall for Satan's lies. Jesus was tempted for forty days, and was offered all the kingdoms of the world, food, and was mocked. But each time He said, 'It is written.'" Severus thought about this for a long, long minute, one that seemed to go on forever, until he answered,

"But it's Jesus. That's different."

"How?"

"Because everybody else gave into temptation." Why was he always so difficult? It was like he was trying on purpose to make this as hard as possible on her.

"Yes, but He strengthens us." Of course it wasn't good enough.

"Isn't it troubling to you that Jesus left us here all alone?" Well, this one came naturally.

"He didn't. He left us with the Holy Spirit. It can't be seen, of course. But when it enters you, it lets you know what to do, or say. That's how you know. It affirms your faith. Without it, it's not real."

"That's a lot to get used to." She laughed again, and they went up to the castle. After this they read the Bible every day without fail.