Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put all characters in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's just the way it's gotta be.

Powers Collide

When Snape's response to her words was to state that he didn't need anyone or their help, Lily literally felt her Weasley temper explode inside her as her face lit up with fury. "By Merlin how can you be so bloody stupid?! Don't you even realize-how can you be so blind still, after everything that happened to you in your other life?! You're letting history repeat itself and your fucking head is too bleeding thick for you to even realize it. How much of you last life did you spend alone, telling anyone who tried to get close to you what you just said to me? You wasted your last life alone, not even really living as you-you became this shadow of a man who hovered in the background to keep my father safe because he was your Lily's son. Because you wanted to atone for what happened when you pushed away someone who genuinely loved you so that you could be part of a group that you thought would make you so powerful that no one would ever make you a victim again. But you keep making yourself a victim because you're still letting all those horrible people who hurt you win. You're still letting them control you because you're letting what they did overshadow everyone else so that you can't bring yourself to accept the fact that there are people in this world who want you in their lives and think you're loveable even when you're being one of the biggest arseholes this world has seen since the LAST TIME YOU DIED!"

"You know nothing about me!" Was the best Snape could force out, completely floored by the fury and power the little Gryffindor was giving off as she stared him down.

"Yes I do! I know your parents were crap and that I'd like to bitch slap them both into another dimension if they weren't already dead! I know your mum didn't take care of you and protect you the way she should have, the way I would have, and that your dad-"

"You know nothing about my parents!" Of course he knew very well that her father would have seen things he'd rather the other man hadn't when he'd give the Gryffindor his memories but still…what had James Potter's son told her?

The sound Lily made was as dismissive as it was rude. "Do you honestly think that you haven't been mentioned in the books that have been written about the wars? Just because you refused to give interviews from your portrait doesn't mean they just didn't ask other people about you! Some of them even disguise themselves as Muggles and talked to Dad's Aunt Petunia! You should see some of the stuff written about you!"

Scowling to a frightening degree Snape growled Petunia's name and said Skeeter's like it was a swear word, knowing that both women would have been the worst of the bunch when it came to maligning him and his past. It was actually frightening to think about how much the two had in common, given that they never had a nice thing to say about anyone expect themselves. He felt nauseated just thinking about the lies that had no doubt been printed for future generations to read. Look what Skeeter had said about Dumbledore after all!

"Actually Skeeter never got the chance to publish the book she wrote about the main players in the last war. The manuscript got canned because not even her editor was barmy enough to think they could get away with some of the stories she fabricated for that one. Plus Hugo's mum had blackmail material on her and…and that's not what we're talking about here! We're talking about how stupid you are! Where did I leave off, dammit?!"

Naturally Snape's response was to glare at her, not about to help her in the slightest and busy making a mental note to get Hugo to tell him what authors he needed to visit over their 'interpretations' of his past when the opportunity arose.

It took Lily a couple curse filled minutes while she pointedly ignoring Snape telling her to leave his room again too, but it came back to her eventually, the Gryffindor snapping her fingers in remembrance before she picked up where she'd left off with fresh fury and volume.

"So what I was saying was that your dad was a right jackarse who ought to have been turned into a toad and then tossed onto a fucking highway during rush hour for being such a bad husband and dad and-"

"My father was far from the worst person I had to deal with in my life." Snape interrupted, prepared to remove her from the room bodily if she wanted to get into a discussion about his childhood. And thinking to both change the subject and get rid of her Snape's scowl turned into a nasty smirk. "If you want to discuss individuals who deserved to be transfigured and maimed then-"

"I know that people picked on you at Hogwarts and before that because you were different than they were, and I won't hesitate to say that my grandfather was a complete and total gobshite to you and that I'm ashamed of the way he treated you and anyone else he picked on because he was too full of himself to realize how much hurt he was causing." It was Lily's turn to interrupt now. "As for my grandmother you fucked up royally there all on your own, so I'm not blaming her unless you want to tell me otherwise because I will believe you. We all fuck up and hurt people without meaning to when we're teenagers, we make mistakes and don't value things until we lose them because we think the wrong things are what's important. And you learned that lesson in the worst way possible, and I wish you could have undone what happened just as much as you wish it because I hate the thought of how much you must have suffered and-and without someone there who loved you to get you through it."

Reaching out Lily grabbed Snape's hand and held it hard enough to be painful. "But I'm here now and-and I'll listen and I won't judge and I won't leave you when times get tough. I'm not weak or trying to use you, Sev. I'm trying to tell you I care and I hate that you won't let me show you that!"

Trying and failing to jerk his hand from her grip, desperately wanting to get away from her and what she was saying and suggesting, Snape snarled that she didn't know what the hell she was talking about and he wasn't some damn stray for her to look after.

"MEN!"

Doing some snarling of her own Lily let him jerk his hand free so that she'd have both of hers free so that she could grab the front of his jumper and yank him down, shifting grip then to dive her fingers into his hair as she pressed their lips together to shut him up and force him to understand what she was saying.

Normally Lily would have taken some offense to having a guy she was trying to snog freeze like he'd been stupefied, but in this case Lily figured it was probably for the best as she stroked her fingers through the midnight black with hints of silver hair she'd been wanting to touch for ages, using it to rein herself in since what she wanted to do was ravage his mouth and turn him into a pile of hormonal male goo. But then he'd think it was all about sex and it wasn't, so she kept the kissing gentle but firm, allowing herself only a couple brief swipes of tongue before pulling away and taking a step back.

So that she wasn't tempted to commit homicide Lily opted to look over his shoulder as opposed to his face as she told him to think about that for a while.

"Oh, and if you run now I'll hunt you down, don't think I won't. And you'll be as big a coward as people used to say you were too."

Her point made, hopefully, Lily shouldered past him and out into the hallway, the sound of her bedroom door closing loudly echoing in said hallway moments later.

)

Having come up the steps to see what they were fighting about, he'd been able to hear the sound of Lily yelling despite the distance, Hugo arrived shortly after the slam, taking that to mean that at least the fighting was over unless Severus was in Lily's room which wasn't likely. Making his way to his friend's room, the door was open and that was the logical place to find Severus anyway, Hugo poked his head in to find the Slytherin just standing nearly in the doorway, the older man not responding in any way to his name when Hugo tried it.

Oh boy. That wasn't a good sign.

Carefully moving around his friend until he could stand in front of him Hugo studied Snape's face for several moments and then sighed, shaking his head before he reached out and very carefully maneuvered Snape over to the bed and onto it in a seated position. "Severus…are you with me?"

When the Slytherin's eyes focused on meeting Hugo's it was more of an instinctual reaction to his name than the actual words spoken. When Hugo asked if he was okay Snape nodded, some part of his still working brain telling him that that was the right response.

"Okay. You stay here and I'm going to get you something to make you feel better. I'll be right back, promise."

Watching as Hugo left him and headed out of his room Snape hoped rather desperately that whatever the Gryffindor was bringing him, it came in a bottle. A big bottle that Hugo would bring with him so that he could use the alcohol in it to hopefully block the last ten odd minutes of his life out with. Not that liquor had ever been able to dull his thoughts and memories for long, he'd tried that in his past life, but this wasn't technically his body and maybe Prince's would react differently. A Slytherin could hope.

If nothing else it would erase the taste of her from his mouth.

Groaning at the thought Snape dropped his head into his hands, alternating between cursing Lily and the fates that had landed him in this situation. Because while the other kiss she'd given him had been just her screwing with his head because she could…the one she'd just given him was a horse of a different color so to speak.

Unfortunately there was no house to fall on him at the moment, ending his currently wretched existence, so Snape had to content himself with marveling over the creativity of the fates, to have come up with such a truly twisted and imaginative punishment to sic on him. Genius really. Utterly evil and genius. And she was Harry Potter's daughter, James Potter's granddaughter. LILY'S GRANDDAUGHTER.

"I'm going to hell. No, this is hell." Snape corrected, muttering to himself under his breath some more about the evilness of this punishment until he heard footsteps, lifting his head then since he didn't want to look even more pathetic than he already had.

To the Slytherin's disappointment the Gryffindor had two large thermoses in his hands, the boy sitting on the bed beside him before handing one out to him.

Taking it automatically Snape stared down at the lid, asking what it was.

"It's what my mum always made me when I needed cheering up. It's really good, try it."

Okay, this couldn't be hell because Hugo was in it, Snape acknowledged as he stared into the Gryffindor's face, which was beaming hopefulness and encouragement at him like the boy was the bloody sun. And unable to resist him, he was willing to admit only Alexei could, Snape sighed and raised the drink to take a swallow, his eyes widening a little in surprise at the flavors that made up the liquid that hit his tongue and slid warmly down his throat.

"Chocolate…and mint?" It tasted like a milk chocolate mint smoothie, Snape thought to himself, taking another sip automatically because it really was delicious. Not too bitter or sweet, and the temperature was spot on for drinking.

"Yup. You put a mint tea bag in and then fill the cup up three quarters of the way with hot chocolate. Then you fill the last quarter with chocolate milk and give it a bit of a stir and then pull the bag out. Gives it a hint of mint without it being too much, and the cold chocolate milk guarantees you can drink it right away without having to wait for it to cool at all."

Watching Hugo over the rim of the thermos as the Gryffindor happily enjoyed his own drink, the boy was even making yummy noises, Snape couldn't stop one corner of his mouth from curving up in a half smile. Damn the curly haired menace was good.

And so they sat there and drank their treats until they both had about a quarter of the drink left and Hugo asked the question.

"Ready to talk about it?"

)

To say he didn't want to talk about it would be a massive understatement, or at least that's what Snape thought as he sighed and opened his mouth, knowing that Hugo would worm the truth out of him so he might as well get it over with. And then, after he got through the first couple sentences, the words seemed to come pouring out of him like they had been dammed up and had finally broken free. It all came spilling out, not just what had happened moments ago but all the other things she'd done to drive him crazy or mess with his head to the point where he felt like his whole world had gone topsy-turvy. From there Snape segued to other stuff, namely the fact that Lily thought she knew something about his past and she didn't. No one knew but him and how dare she presume otherwise. Or lecture him about bullying and what it was like to be an outsider when people had worshipped the ground she'd walked on as the Chosen One's only daughter. Because while she was so odd there weren't even words Snape hadn't had to be a portrait on the wall to know that she'd still been treated like a princess by the students and staff.

Sitting quietly Hugo didn't comment, it wasn't his opinions his friend wanted to hear after all and the man needed to vent, so instead he stored away those thought and observations effortless in his extraordinary brain, other sections already formulating responses and making connections to past events. But mostly Hugo just listened, fairly sure that this was a once in a lifetime sort of event.

Unable to stop himself, and not even aware that he should because he was so caught up in FINALLY saying all that he'd been wanting to say for decades, Snape spoke honestly about the people who'd fundamentally altered and effected his life and the man he'd become, having very few good things to say about the vast majority of them. He took water that Hugo conjured up for him when his throat started to dry and just kept right on going as he acknowledged wounds that had been festering for over half a millennia and had never been allowed to heal.

He talked and talked and talked…and trusted, to the core of his being, that Hugo could be trusted with him pain and dark places. That his friend would stay.

And when he did finally stop talking, with nothing more to say, Snape felt more exhausted than he could ever recall being in both his 'lives'. But…he felt better too, the Slytherin realized as he turned his head to study the boy sitting so quietly beside him, his presence like a security blanket around him. He felt rather like an infant who'd been crying for attention and had been picked up, assured that it wasn't alone and that he mattered to someone. That the darkness would always be kept away so long as he was there.

It also occurred to him that he should thank Hugo for listening, or maybe even apologize for some of the things he'd said about Hugo's family, but somehow Snape knew that wasn't necessary. That Hugo was the sort who would always know such things without being told.

Still… "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Reaching over Hugo gave Snape's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Now I think it's time you go to bed. And don't worry about Lily, I'll talk to her. Just act normal tomorrow and you two will be back on track in no time."

His voice rusty with overuse Snape didn't share Hugo's optimism. "She's made that impossible by-"

"Very few things are impossible and this isn't one of them. She's made her feelings clear and I'll make your feelings clear to her. You're ready to start making friends, but anything more than that is asking too much of you right now. I'll make her understand that and she'll back off, for a while anyway."

"A while?"

"Best I can do." Was Hugo's 'what you gonna do' answer, the Gryffindor shrugging his shoulders for emphasis. "She's not really someone you can hold back for long, particularly when her emotions are involved."

"Can't you make her understand that her-she-it would never work?" If anyone could do it it would be Hugo, Snape felt certain of it.

"Ah, well…I'm a crappy liar, remember? And I think you two would make a lovely couple."

When Snape stared at him in dumbfounded shock Hugo had to smile, getting to his feet fairly smoothly before neatly nipping the now empty thermos out of Snape's hand.

Sure that his job for the moment was done Hugo headed for the door, turning around once he was there to look at Snape, who looked as shocked now as he had the first time he'd come into the room to find out what the two had been arguing about.

"Severus…a wise turtle once said that yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the "present." Steeping yourself in the past hasn't done you any good, and no one can say for sure what the future will hold for any of us. So starting tomorrow try living in the present for a while…see what happens."

"A turtle…?"

"Long story, tell you about it tomorrow. Good night."

Not knowing what else to say Snape echoed the sentiment, watching Hugo leave before turning his attention to getting ready for bed.

He definitely needed to sleep on all this.