A/N: Wow! Thank you everyone who reviewed! I'm sooooo happy to see you like the story, and I hope it continues to meet expectations! Sorry it took so long to update! I saw "Half Blood Prince" at the midnight showing and LOVED it...so much that I couldn't really concentrate on anything else for a while! Anyway, this chapter got its name from Dumbledore's quote about Severus in "King's Cross" (no he's not going to die so soon, I promise). Enjoy~

"Is he still upset about the match?"

Severus followed Lily's gaze and saw that James hadn't even started the day's lesson. He was slumped over in his chair, nearly dropping his head into the simmering cauldron that Sirius had long since given up on to join Remus for the lesson instead. He certainly looked miserable.

It was no surprise to his friends, however. Last weekend, in Gryffindor's first Quidditch match of the season, James had strutted onto the field with a supreme sense of self-confidence and, as usual, arrogance. Being the youngest Chaser on the Gryffindor team in decades, he was determined to prove to everyone that he would be the greatest Quidditch player ever seen. Unfortunately for him, the Hufflepuffs were much better than he had originally believed, and despite his aggressive efforts to score points for his house, he ended up scoring absolutely none. The other two Chasers were scoring goals every few minutes, but even though they managed to tie the game around the thirty minute mark, the Hufflepuff Seeker shocked them all by finding the Snitch five minutes later.

Needless to say, James had been devastated. Everyone blamed him for being overconfident, and nobody bothered hiding the fact that James hadn't made a single goal.

Severus sighed. "He really thought he was a great Chaser. And I can't blame him for being upset though. His Invisibility Cloak was stolen two weeks ago and we think it's gone for good."

Lily nearly gagged, and it wasn't from the thick fumes of their potion. "Was it?"

Severus observed her curiously. "Yes. It's been in his family for decades. Centuries even."

Lily gulped and looked down at her bag. As Severus quietly went to work on cutting up their Muller Roots, Lily hastily shoved the silvery blue cloak deeper into her bag, until it was completely out of sight. Guilt raged against her heart, knowing that she never should have taken it in the first place, especially to help a nasty snake by the name of Lucius Malfoy. After all that he had put her through, Lily wasn't exactly sad to hear that he had been expelled.

Then again, I might be expelled too, Lily thought nervously. Lucius had been kicked out of Hogwarts for thievery, something she was guilty of as well. She could only hope that she could get the cloak back to Potter before someone found it in her bag.

"So are you going to Slughorn's Christmas party tomorrow?" Severus asked conversationally, trying to keep his friend talking.

"Huh?" Lily asked absentmindedly. She was no longer paying any attention to Severus. Her only focus was on how she would return the cloak. She had specifically brought it to Potions today, hoping to rid herself of the blasted thing as soon as she could. It had already been in her possession for two weeks and the longer she kept it, the worse her punishment would be if someone caught her. Potter didn't seem to be paying attention today, but his bag was sitting in his lap; it would be impossible to return it to him unless he put it down.

Or I could just put it in Sev's bag, Lily thought excitedly. Potter would surely know that Severus didn't take it, and she would have no problem getting it into his bag. All she needed was a distraction…

"—and he said we're allowed to bring guests," Severus continued, refusing to make eye contact with Lily as the colour rose to his cheeks, "and I was just wondering if you—"

"Sev, I think we need more Furzy Juice," Lily interrupted him as their potion nearly overflowed from lack of attention.

Severus' eyes widened and he blushed furiously. "Um, sure..."

Trying not to show Lily how embarrassed he was, Severus quickly shuffled over to the stores cabinet for more ingredients. Without hesitation, Lily jerked the cloak out—ensuring that nobody was watching her first— and shoved it into Severus' bag. She managed to place a few heavy books on top of it before he returned, and Severus had no idea what had happened.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Lily thanked him for retrieving the juice and carefully returned to working on their potion.

Severus bit his lip as he darted a furtive glance at his friend. She was acting very odd today...was it because she knew he was trying to ask her to accompany him to Slughorn's party?

Or has she already asked her new best friend? Severus wondered sourly, thinking of Regulus Black. He hated that boy more than anyone else at Hogwarts. Lily had spent all of her free time with the git this year, and as much as Severus hated to admit it, he was feeling a bit…jealous. He was used to Lily only wanting to be around him, but everything changed when Black came to Hogwarts.

"So what were you saying?" Lily asked pleasantly after ten minutes of uninterrupted silence between them.

Severus groaned inwardly. So she hadn't heard a word he had said about Slughorn's party.

"I was...um...wondering if you were going...to Slughorn's party," Severus stuttered. He may be a genius when it came to Potions and defensive magic, but when it came to conversations— even with Lily— he almost always lost his nerve.

Lily frowned. "I didn't know Slughorn was having a party."

"Oh. You must have been in the Hospital Wing when he told us. Well, he's having a Christmas party tomorrow night."

"Oh. Sounds fun."

Severus deliberately focused all of his attention on the potion now. He could feel his face grow warmer again. "He...he also said we should, um...bring a friend."

"Oh! Will you come with me?"

Severus stared at her. How did she manage to do that so easily? He had been practicing the question all morning, and she completely improvised this with ease.

"Sure."

xXxXxXxXx

For a twelve year old, Lily sure knew how to dress up. Perhaps this was due to the years she had lived with the self proclaimed fashion-queen Petunia, but nevertheless, Severus felt immensely underdressed the moment he met Lily outside of Slughorn's office. He was wearing his best dress robes, which appeared much nicer than usual thanks to Frank Longbottom's excellent Tranfiguration abilities, but they were nothing compared to Lily's outfit. She was wearing a sparkling green dress that really brought out the colour in her eyes, momentarily distracting Severus.

"You look...good," was all that he managed to say. The truth was, Lily looked magnificent, but he was too shy to tell her that. After all, she was his best friend, and best friends didn't say things like that to each other.

Lily merely smiled, knowing that, coming from Severus that was a huge compliment. They walked into the grand office together, and found that it was much larger than usual to accommodate the number of guests in attendance. As expected, Slughorn had gone all-out with the decorations: from the lavishly ornamented Christmas trees to the enchanted lights and endless buffet table, it was clear that Slughorn was a man who enjoyed extravagance and luxury.

Severus and Lily noticed they were the youngest ones there; everyone else looked to be at least fifth year and above. There was one fourth year, Gryffindor Tiberius McLaggen, with his seventh year Ravenclaw girlfriend. There were some Quidditch players from Puddlemere United and the Holyhead Harpies in the room, as well as several top members from the Ministry. Slughorn was a well-connected man, apparently.

"This is...mad," Severus said as he eyed the festivities around him. He was not a fan of parties, and the brightness of it all hurt his eyes. Still, he had Lily with him, so he vowed to enjoy himself.

"Ah! There's my stellar second years!" Slughorn boomed as he pulled Lily and Severus into the crowd. The Ministry officials peered at them curiously, as though they were determining their potential for Ministry careers someday. None of them seemed too impressed by Severus, but they immediately adored Lily.

"So you're Horace's top student?" one man asked her. Severus recognized him from the Daily Prophet: he was Barty Crouch, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Lily smiled charmingly. "Well, I personally think Severus here is the best Potions student ever, but he's too shy to admit it."

Severus blushed under Lily's praise and mumbled, "I'm not that good."

"Don't let him fool you; he's a budding Potions Master!" Slughorn chortled as he heartily whacked Severus on the back, almost knocking him to the ground. "These two are going to be great someday, mark my words."

Lily blushed as well. The adults seemed very interested in both of them now, and only after twenty minutes of questions did they manage to escape to a quieter corner of the room. The older kids were all dancing to the romantic Christmas tunes, but Severus didn't want to dance. He was content watching from the sidelines.

"That was strange," Lily commented. She was still watching the adults conversing on opposite side of the room, wondering why they were so interested in her and Severus if they were just good students. Severus knew they were only looking to collect future Ministry puppets, but he didn't tell Lily this.

"Oh joy, look who showed up," Severus grimaced as none other than Darcy Umbridge strolled into the room. She was wearing a vivid scarlet dress that was so tight around her plump figure that it made her look more like an oversized tomato than a human. She instantly started up a conversation with Crouch; they were both highly ranked in the Ministry after all, and he wanted to hear what she thought of Hogwarts.

"The students are...quite rebellious," Severus heard her say to Crouch as her piggish little eyes landed on him. She sneered hatefully at him; she had never gotten over what he had done to Dolores, and he knew fully well that she would get revenge for such humiliation at the first opportunity.

He glared back defiantly. I'm not letting you ruin my night.

"Just ignore her, Sev," Lily whispered, pulling him into the crowd of rowdy students until he couldn't see Umbridge anymore. "So...how about a dance?"

Severus felt the heat rise to his cheeks for what felt like the millionth time that week. He had never danced a minute in his life, and yet here he was, on the dance floor with his best friend pleading him to dance to "My Christmas Witch." What was worse: it was a slow song.

"Lily, you know I can't dance..."

"Just try then. I don't care if you step on my toes."

Severus didn't like it. He didn't want to say no to Lily. After all, she had saved him from the embarrassment of asking her to the party, and did her absolute best to look perfect tonight. But again, they were only twelve. Twelve year olds didn't dance like this, did they?

Without waiting for Severus' answer, Lily happily pulled him into the music. They didn't exactly dance the correct way— Severus refused to go as far as putting his hands on her waist like the older kids were doing— but Lily enjoyed herself anyway. After a while, Severus somehow found himself enjoying it as well. Who knew that something as pointless as dancing could be so enjoyable? Neither of them had the grace and ability that the older students possessed, but that didn't matter. The Christmas lights became a blur and Severus guiltily found himself wishing this could last forever. Normally he would have felt like an idiot dancing, but everything seemed easier with Lily. It had been so long since he had had her to himself, without bloody Regulus tagging along or completely taking Lily away from him as he so often did. Thinking of this, Severus smiled, something he rarely did these days. It was a perfect evening.

And he only stepped on her foot once.

xXxXxXxXx

"That was the best party ever Sev," Lily said sleepily as they walked down to the Slytherin dungeons. Severus didn't want the night to end, and made up the excuse that he would walk her back to her common room just to spend more time with her. It was already well past midnight, but a deeply intoxicated Slughorn had promised them he would vouch for them if they were caught out of their dormitories after curfew.

"Well, I guess is goodbye for a while," Lily said quietly once they reached the outer entrance to the Slytherin common room.

Severus stared at her, not comprehending what she had said. "What do you mean?"

"Oh Sev, I had so much fun tonight, and I didn't want to tell you but— I'm going to Narcissa's home for the holidays," Lily confessed, her eyes glistening with tears.

Severus' heart dropped. He had barely seen or spoken to his friend in a month, with the exception of these past few days; didn't she want to be around him more? He found himself desperately wishing for summer to be here, in which Lily spent nearly every day with him, and only him. No Narcissa, no Laika, and especially: no Regulus. The thought that Lily wasn't going to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays hadn't even crossed his mind tonight. He had just assumed she would want to stay here with him.

"Sev?"

"Oh, I'm sorry; I forgot you had better friends to spend your Christmas with," Severus spat, glaring at her for ruining what could have been a perfect evening.

Lily glared back as well, though not without tears streaming down her cheeks, Severus noted with a hint of satisfaction.

"Sev, don't be like that. You know you're my best friend."

Severus didn't know what to say. He was deeply upset by Lily's consistent disloyalty, and soon found himself running away from her to prevent himself from saying something he knew he would regret later. He couldn't even manage a simple goodbye. Lily called for him to come back, but he ignored her and continued running. As he turned the corner that led away from the dungeons, he heard a muffled sob echoing along the hallway.

He sprinted harder than he ever had before; somehow the painful stitching in his chest only motivated him to go faster. He reached the Fat Lady's portrait within minutes, and barked the password at her, not caring if he had woken her up. His friends were surely asleep by now, which was fine with him. He just wanted to throw himself onto the bed and escape into the land of sleep, where no one could hurt him.

Lily and her ickle Slytherin friends. Why, oh why did she have to be in Slytherin? Everything had been fine before they had come to Hogwarts, and now...well, Severus didn't exactly want to think of the damage he had done.

As he entered their dormitory, he was shocked to see James and Sirius still awake. The lights were dimly lit, and judging from the anxious expression Sirius shot him as he walked in, things were not looking good for Severus.

"What's going on?" he asked in a constricted voice, hoping that his anger wouldn't reveal itself to his friends. Remus woke up immediately upon his arrival and nodded at him grimly.

"Remember that thing I lost a couple weeks ago? The one you told me you didn't steal?" James asked in a strangely hollow voice. He was staring at the wall, but Severus knew the questions were directed at him.

"For the hundredth time, I didn't take your cloak," Severus snapped harshly. He was still worked up from his argument with Lily, and anyone who irritated him now was going to be very sorry.

James jolted to his feet and turned around to face Severus. His expression was a little frightening: he was smiling, but not in a friendly way.

"Then what is this?" James asked, holding up Severus' bag.

"My books, you prat, now give me—" Severus tried reaching for it, but James jerked it out of his reach. Severus was furious. First Lily, now James. If he didn't calm down soon, he was going to hex someone until the enraged monster in his chest was gone.

James reached inside the bag, and pulled out a silvery blue cloth. He dropped the bag carelessly on the ground, scattering Severus' books everywhere. Worse still, he had had small vials of extremely valuable experimental potions in there. They shattered underneath the weight of the books landing on top of them; destroying about three months' worth of Severus' experiments.

That did it: Severus whipped out his wand faster than a skilled Auror could have managed, and hexed James across the room with the first spell he thought of.

He had never felt this way before; it was like every negative emotion— some he didn't even know he had— was overflowing from his core, and there was nothing he could possibly do to stop it.

For three solid months, he had worked on those potions. He had been close to a breakthrough with two of the four, and even though he had recorded the notes, it would take another three months to return to the level he had previously been at. It would have been fine if only one had broken; a simple Reparo charm would have done the work. But the four potions had mixed and formed a dangerous concoction. They fused together and completely melted through one of his books, until nothing remained of his precious experiments but a raw pile of tarred mush.

"Why'd you do that?!" Severus bellowed, pointing his wand directly at James.

"Why...why did you take it?" James asked weakly, still dazed from Severus' unexpected attack. He held up the cloth in which he had taken from Severus' bag. He recognized it as James' Invisibility Cloak at once.

Severus finally realized what was going on. His jaw dropped in shock at the sight of the cloak, which had been in his bag, apparently. How it got in there, he didn't know, but right now, it didn't matter. A feeling of deflation suddenly engulfed him, and couldn't even muster up the energy to tell James he hadn't taken the cloak. He was simply too stunned to speak. The evidence was right in front of him: he knew he hadn't taken it, but he couldn't deny that James had a valid reason for blaming him if it was found in his own bag.

Unable to believe what a terrible evening this turned out to be, his shoulders drooped, and he slowly made his way back to his bed. Sure, maybe Lily did deserve what he had said to her, and maybe James did deserve to be hexed for being so careless with Severus' belongings, but now he could see that he was just as bad as them. Severus had never felt so empty before. And to think, just two hours ago he was happier than he had ever been in his entire life...

A/N: Whee, Severus has a mental breakdown. I was thinking it was kind of like how Hermione completely lost it in PoA, except it's friend problems for Severus (he's really fed up with Lily now), instead of academic (though he's pretty pissed off about his experiments all going to waste). I think Lily has too many flaws at this point in the story, that I needed to show that Severus is flawed as well (because, if you reread some of the story, he's pretty close to being perfect so far).

Slughorn's party was fun to write (you have no idea how much I wanted Tiberius to do that thing his nephew did in the movie).

Once again, I appreciate every review, and any suggestions would be helpful as well! Thanks! :)