"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" Lily yelled.

Severus had never been so happy to be screamed at in his life. He knew she was livid, it showed in every fibre of her being, but he was still thrilled. Tears were welling in his eyes. Lily was alive; she wasn't even in the shack.

"Are you going to answer me or not?!"

Shaking his head, Severus leapt to his feet and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. The only word that would come to his lips was her name. He tried desperately to hold back, to not show any weakness in front of their one person audience but it was a failure and the tears broke free and ran down his face, wetting Lily's cheek as well as his own.

"Sev?" She sounded confused, worried and still the tiniest bit angry but her arms wrapped around him pulling him tight against her.

"Bollucks." Severus heard Black mutter. He knew soon he would be back to being blind angry but at this moment all he could be was relieved and grateful.

Finally, Lily pushed him away. "I want to know what's going on here." Her eyes darted from him to Black.

Severus surreptitiously wiped the tears from his face. "Ask him." He waved a hand in the direction of Black.

"Sirius?"

"It was nothing Evans, just a disagreement."

The blood was starting to boil in Severus' veins again.

"Peter said something about you, James and Severus. Where is James?"

"Should have known Wormtail couldn't keep a secret," Sirius grumbled.

"James, Sirius!" snapped Lily.

"He's down there." Sirius pointed towards the entrance to the tunnel.

"Do you mean…? Sev, tell me you didn't go down that tunnel again." Lily didn't even give him to time to answer before starting to yell again. "What are you thinking? Didn't you learn anything back in forth year? Honestly Sev, what down there is so all-fired interesting that you have to keep trying to get to it?"

Sirius' eyes widened. The fact that Severus had chosen to not tell Lily the full details of what had happened in fourth year unmistakably shocked him.

"Does James have to keep risking his life to save you?!" Lily continued.

That was it, Severus had had enough. "He didn't risk anything! They set it up between them, Potter and his friends, just like they did in fourth year! Great joke huh? I get all the trouble and they get praised as heroes. Well you went too far this time, Black! I'll have you expelled, you and your little friends!"

Severus began advancing towards Black again.

"You greasy, little, dark-arts obsessed, Death Eater want-to-be, you deserve everything you get!"

"Enough! I want an explanation. If they did this to you before then why did you go now, Severus?"

"I thought you were down there!"

"So?"

"That's were Lupin goes to transform into a werewolf! I thought you would be killed! I was trying to help you, but excuse me for trying to be a decent friend." He was sick of being yelled at for this, as if it were all his fault.

"Why did you think Lily was down there?" asked James as he emerged from between the tree roots.

"This." Severus dug into his pocket for the note and passed it to Lily.

She scrutinized the parchment carefully. "I didn't write this."

"It's your handwriting."

"It's close I admit, very close, but it's not mine."

"Then who would…?" puzzled James before his eyes fell on his friend and he shook his head sadly. "Padfoot you… just go to Moony, before he hurts himself."

"Prongs."

"Go. We'll talk later."

Sirius looked at his best friend sadly before picking up Severus' discarded stick, poking a knothole and disappearing under the willow.

Lily started, "James are you insane? You can't let Sirius go down there after Remus has transformed he'll be torn limb from limb."

"He'll be fine Lily, trust me."

Severus was incredulous. "You knew, about Lupin?"

"Yes, he told me earlier in the term."

"Perfect."

Lily looked back and forth between the two boys. Severus looked as angry as she had ever seen him and Potter exuded guilt. It was time she got to the bottom of this. Crossing to Severus she whispered "Sev, can you give me a few moments to talk to James in private?"

If her friend had looked angry before it was nothing to how he looked now, though underneath the fury she could see hurt and disappointment.

She took his hand in hers. "I want you to go wait for me in the prefect's bathroom. As soon as I'm done with him I'll come talk to you." Severus' eyes flashed and his mouth opened. "Please Sev, I'll never get the truth from him if you're here – Please, Sev."

He nodded brusquely and unable to resist Lily flung her arms around him, holding him tight. "Go on. I'll see you in a little bit – promise."

Severus pulled back a little and she knew he was hurt she was listening to James before him. She also knew Severus needed time to calm down, otherwise he would only get himself all worked up again telling her what had happened. "Take a bath while you're in there and relax a little."

"Lil."

"Go on… and Sev, I love you, no matter what."

"Me too." Severus moved away slowly, perhaps hoping to overhear part of the discussion but Lily waited until she was sure he was out of earshot before turning to face her housemate.

"I suggest you start explaining."

James ruffled his hair, an act she generally found endearing but now it only served to annoy her further.

"Look, Lily can we talk about this later? I should really get down there and help Remus. Transformations are hard on him."

Lily couldn't think of a reply, how James was able to help Remus with his transformations? And she really wanted to get to the bottom of the situation so she shook her head and said, "I think it's better if we talk now."

"Sorry, James I know I'm late," squeaked Peter as he ran up. "Saw Snape going by and he looked to be in a right strop. Hi, Lily, what are you doing here?"

"Wormtail, I can't explain right now, just get down there. I'll catch up as soon as I can…And use the stick Pete." James added as the plump boy headed towards the willow.

Peter looked at him puzzlingly but did as he was told.

"I think you'd better start by explaining that," stated Lily pointing to the tree roots.

James sighed deeply. "Let's go over here and talk." He waved to a spot a short way away. After they were both seated he gave another sigh and started. "I suppose the best place to begin is the beginning."

Lily nodded, watching him carefully for any signs that he was about to lie to her.

"Sirius and I started to suspect what Remus is in second year. So we did some research, and a little bit of digging. As soon as were certain we confronted him. Poor Remus, he looked so terrified, as if he expected us to not be his friends any longer. But we didn't care, I mean Remus is still Remus no matter what, right?"

"That's a very mature way to think. I'm sure he appreciated the three of you standing by him."

"It was the right thing to do. And it honestly never crossed my mind that we would do anything other than keep being his friend. Of course the three of us were all kinds of curious. We must have driven Moony crazy with all the questions we asked." James laughed a little before continuing, "Some of them were so stupid. For the most part Remus was pretty good about answering them, but he would never tell us what transformations were like. I thought as first it was because he didn't remember but the truth was he didn't want us to know how painful and horrible it is. I suppose he was afraid we would pity him and maybe we did a little bit. It's a hard thing to know one of your best friends is in that much pain and there's nothing you can do about it. We all wanted to find a way to make things easier for him. It took a while but eventually Sirius came up with a plan and, well, it seemed like a good idea to Peter and I, so we went along with it."

"What was the plan?" she asked, fascinated.

James stood up, his face heavy with concentration. Lily blinked in surprise when she saw a fully-grown stag in front of her, a second later James had returned to his human form.

"I don't understand," Lily whispered.

"We're animagi. All three of us."

"How does that help Rem?"

"Werewolves won't attack animals, only people. So in our altered forms we can keep him company, make things easier for him. He still won't let us be there to watch him transform, he says none of us should see that, but we're working on persuading him. Remus says he doesn't feel as wolfish when we're around; he feels more like he's himself, able to control things better. It's not much but it's something isn't it?"

"It's the act of a true friend."

James plopped back down next to her. "Like I said, it was the right thing to do. I don't want Remus to suffer if I can help it and this way he gets to live as normal a life as possible and not be shoved to the fringes of society."

"So then I guess that brings us to what happened in fourth year."

James looked at Lily intently, as if trying to decide what exactly to say. After a moment he seemed to make a decision, heaved a deep breath and spoke. "Look, Lily, it's no secret that I've never liked Snape."

"You never gave him a chance. The moment the word Slytherin came out of his mouth you wrote him off as a lost cause."

"I suppose that's true. And maybe I shouldn't have done it but there is no denying he's up to his ears in dark magic."

Lily opened her mouth to protest but James cut her off. "Come on, Lily, even you can't deny he knows more hexes and curses than anyone else in our year.

"He probably does, but just because he knows them doesn't mean he uses them, because if that were the case Sev could have cast an unforgivable years ago and he never has."

James looked sceptical. Lily could only sigh, trying to get Severus and James to admit they were wrong about one another was a monumental task and one that could definitely not be accomplished in one night. "So, how does this get us to whatever happened in fourth year?"

"Well, you know what Snape's like, constantly snooping, trying to get us all into trouble."

"Maybe he wouldn't do that if you were nicer to him."

James looked ready to protest but seemingly changed his mind. "Anyway, by the end of fourth year we were all sick of it. At least Sirius and I were, so we cooked up this plan between the two of us. We thought if we could frighten Snape a little bit then he would leave us alone."

"What did you do?"

"Sirius 'accidentally' told Snape how to get in the tunnel. Just as we suspected on the first full moon after that Snape came down and climbed in the tunnel. I was waiting nearby so I could go get him once he'd gotten a little bit of a fright."

The rage she felt must have been evident on her face because James quickly continued. "I promise, he was perfectly safe. I knew when to stop him and Sirius and Peter were in the shack with Remus the whole time, just in case."

"James Potter! You – wanker! Did you stop to think for one minute about what you were doing? Sev could have been bitten or killed! He could have killed Remus! Did it ever occur to you that you would have made one of the two of them into a murderer? You could have destroyed both their lives. For a prank!"

"I know. I'm not proud of what I did. I have no real justification for my actions, it was an incredibly stupid and juvenile thing to do. I admit that. At the time we honestly thought we were doing the right thing and I suppose in some way I felt we were actually helping Snape."

"How is that?"

"Well, our way, we were in complete control of the situation but if he chanced upon Moony when we weren't then he could be turned or killed and if things worked out the way we wanted maybe he'd leave us be."

"That is the most self-serving thing I have ever heard and you accuse Sev of being immoral! How is what you did any better than the worst thing he has ever done to you?"

"It's not. I don't pretend what I did was right or just. It was incredibly wrong and I'm admitting that."

"And while you're running around telling everyone how wicked Sev is, how depraved and evil, he never once said a word about it, not even to me. He could have had you all expelled."

"I know that too and I truthfully thought he'd run right to Dumbledore. It was a surprise to the three of us when he didn't. And I took it for granted he had told you."

"No, he never explained to me what really happened that night. And what do you mean by the three of you?"

"Sirius, Peter and I."

"So, Remus thought Sev would say… Wait a minute, Remus didn't know Sev knew he was a werewolf, he said as much to me on the Express."

"We – we never told him what we did."

"So on top of everything else you used Rem."

"I suppose." James looked extremely guilty. "As I said, what I did was wrong and I feel bad about it. I swear to you I would never, ever do such a thing again."

"Then what about tonight?"

"I don't know what happened tonight. I was running late, or at least I thought so because I couldn't find Sirius or Peter, turns out I was actually a little early. Which is a good thing because when I left the castle I saw Snape running up ahead of me. I admit I didn't think much of it until I saw him poking at the willow with a stick. I knew he was going to the Shack. I didn't know why, but I did know I had to stop him. I yelled, Lily, believe me, I yelled at him to stop and when he didn't I ran here as fast as I could. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why he was going down the tunnel. I never thought he would again. Besides he and Remus seem – almost friendly this year."

James sounded perplexed by the whole thought. Lily fought back a smile, nodding at James, who continued, "at least Remus has been after us all year to leave Snape alone and while Snape was ready with the snarky remarks for the rest of us he wasn't directing any of them at Remus. So the fact that he was going made no sense to me. Once I reached him, he told me you were in the Shack. I could hear Remus transforming and knew if you were in there you would be bitten if not worse so I told Snape to get the headmaster and went to help you. Except when I got to the Shack there was no one there but Remus, not you or Sirius or Peter. I knew then that something wasn't right so I came back, even though I hate leaving Remus alone and you know what happened after that."

"Do you think Sirius wrote the note?"

"No, He couldn't copy your handwriting in an age but – "

"Go on."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he had someone else write it."

"Why would he do such a thing?"

"Lily, Sirius – well…" James gave a huff of breath "You know how he is about his family."

Lily nodded.

"He thinks Snape's like them and I have to admit I tend to agree with him."

"James, once and for all, Severus is not what he appears to be."

A scoff escaped the boy before he could stop it.

"I'm not going to tell you Sev's secrets, it's not my place, but please believe me when I tell you, about ninety percent of what you see is an act. Trust me, the real Sev is so different, the one buried beneath all the prickles and stings, if he weren't, I wouldn't be friends with him."

James looked incredibly doubtful. "Maybe, but that's not what comes across. To us it looks like he's only biding his time until he can become a Death Eater and none of us wants you caught up in that. In his own way Sirius is trying to protect you, because he thinks of you as a friend. And Sirius may have many faults but he's intensely loyal to the people he cares about."

Lily was half tempted to say that very trait was one of the things Severus and Sirius had in common but didn't think it would go down so well at the moment.

"That maybe the case, but what did he think would happen tonight? Clearly the plan was not for one of you to pull Sev out so that can only mean Sirius intended for Severus to be killed."

"I don't know what his plan was and I won't until I talk to him. I have to believe Sirius didn't mean for things to happen as they did."

"I hope you're right because Severus is furious and I don't know what he'll do."

"Lily, I know, in light of what I've told you tonight, I have no right to ask you this, but can you maybe try to keep him from saying anything until I've had a chance to sort this all out with Sirius?"

Lily thought about the boys in this group. She had little sympathy for Sirius considering everything that had happened but James was showing genuine remorse. As for Peter, well everyone knew he was just the tag along, whatever the other boys said to do, he did. Then there was Remus, he was obviously completely blameless and it wasn't right that he be punished because of what the others had done. For his sake Lily would try to impress on Severus how important it was to say nothing right now.

"I can't make any promises but I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, we all owe you one. I should go, Sirius has a time managing Remus by himself, it's easier if I'm there." James stood up, brushing the dirt off the backside of his robes. "As soon as I know what happened I'll come tell you."

Lily nodded in agreement, pushed herself up and turned to go. She hadn't gone more than a step or two when she heard James call out after her. "Lily, I really am sorry."

Turning, she smiled at him sadly. "It's not me you need to apologize to."

"Then will you tell Snape…"

"I think it would be better coming from you."

James swallowed hard, before picking up the stick and prodding a knothole. Lily didn't know if that meant James intended to talk to Severus or not but she had her own issues with Severus to deal with so couldn't dwell on that too long. With determined steps Lily made her way into the castle and up to the prefect's bathroom. Before whispering the password she took a deep breath in, hopefully Severus had managed to calm down a little.

Entering the bathroom, she saw he was sitting in the far corner of the room, book open on his knees. A wet towel on the floor showed he had taken her advice and gotten in the tub, but she wasn't sure how much it had calmed him since he didn't even look up as she crossed the room.

"Did you have a nice bath?" she asked dropping down next to him.

"Hmmm." His eyes weren't moving down the page so she knew he wasn't really reading.

"Are you going to talk to me or just sulk?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"Whatever you want."

"Then I guess we have nothing to talk about."

Impatiently Lily snatched the book from his hand and threw it across the room. His eyes shot up to meet hers, snapping with anger.

"Enough! I know you're upset so let's have it out."

"Why, so you can defend them? Tell me I'm overreacting and should be grateful someone came to get me? Tell me again what a hero Potter is, Lily."

"So it's me you're angry with?"

"Why, Lil, why do you always have to listen to them before me? Do I ever get to be first? Do you know how much it hurts? Because it does, Lily, every single time you pick them over me, it hurts."

"Oh Sev, I wasn't picking James over you. I just knew he had the bigger picture and I wanted to hear it before I talked to you. So I would know the truth."

"Yes and I'm sure that's what he told you."

"Actually, I think he did."

Much like James only minutes earlier Severus let out a scoff at the idea that his worst enemy would ever be anything but deceitful when it came to him. Lily reached out and took his hand, Severus' fingers didn't curl around hers as usual, they lay there, flat and tense.

"He told me they did plan what happened to you in forth year."

"I told you! See, you would never believe me about them and I was right!"

Lily could tell Severus was gearing up for a good rant and if she let him carry on the whole conversation would quickly degenerate so she cut him off. "You were right, I admit that. I just didn't want to believe anyone could do something that – callous I suppose is the word I want. I'm sorry I ever doubted you, Sev and I owe you an apology for that. I also owe you a thank you. It was an amazingly brave thing you were going to do."

Severus looked at her incredulously "Did you really think I would leave you to die or get bitten or who knows what other horrid thing?"

"No, but the fact you would come without telling anyone, without asking for help, reminds me why you're my best friend. It also tells me the kind of person you are. So thank you, ever so much." Dropping his hand she took him in her arms and held on tightly.

This time he hugged her back. "Lily, I would do anything to protect you, anything."

"I know, but…" Lily pulled back and smiled at him "perhaps next time you should considering going for a professor instead of thinking you can take a fully grown werewolf on by yourself."

"Wasn't time."

Lily laughed. "Sometimes I think you're a little foolhardy."

"Maybe. So you believe me now, about them?"

"About fourth year? Yes…Sev, why didn't you tell me, that day in the courtyard why not just tell me the truth then?"

"I honestly don't know. I suppose on some level I thought you wouldn't believe me."

"Sev!" She was shocked, had he thought her that bad of a friend?

"It's true, Lil, every time I tried to tell you they were up to something you would brush it off or defend them. I was so frustrated. Anything my housemates did was evil and everything your housemates did was a prank, even though nobody in my house ever tried to have anyone killed. But you would never see that."

"You didn't tell me the truth."

"Would you have believed me, honestly?"

"Honestly, probably not." He looked crestfallen and Lily grabbed his hand once again. "But I wouldn't have believed it of anyone, not even Avery or Mulciber. I guess my mind just doesn't work that way."

"I know, and it's one of the things I like about you, that you see the good in people. But it's hard to know your best friend constantly picks other people over you. You don't know how hard that is."

"Yes, I do, because I thought that's what you were doing, picking them over me."

"I would never do that."

"Well, I know that now, don't I? Sev, I promise, I'm not putting my housemates before you. If I ever did, or if you thought that then I'm sorry because that was not my intension… I also want you to know James told me you were never in any danger that night. They apparently had it planned very well so there was no possibility of you being hurt in anyway. He said they just wanted to give you a fright so you would leave them alone."

"Sure."

"I know it's hard to believe and I understand completely if you're upset. Frankly, you have every right to be but I thought you should know that bit."

"And what about tonight?"

"I have no answers for that. As near as James can figure Sirius did it on his own."

"And you believe him?"

"Yes, I do. He's sorry. He even wanted me to apologize to you."

Severus looked doubtful. "Is that what you're doing?"

"No, I told him he had to do it himself, he owes you that much at least."

"I'm not sure I can forgive them."

"That's your choice to make." Lily took a deep breath. "James also told me they never told Remus about what happened in forth year."

"Now that I don't believe."

"I do. No wait." She held up a hand to stop him from speaking. "On the train ride back after Christmas holidays Remus was genuinely shocked you suspected he was a werewolf. He had no reason to lie to me Sev, not when he was in the midst of telling me his secret."

"I suppose."

"It is impressive you've said nothing all this time. I can see now why you didn't tell me in fourth year but why not this summer or earlier in the term?"

Severus sighed. "Because it's none of my business at this point, as long as they're not doing anything stupid to hurt me or my friends. Also, I thought you would think I was being petty or vindictive. I am trying to change, Lily, to not be like that anymore and keeping this particular secret was part of it I guess. Plus, I kind of…"

She nudged him with her shoulder. "Yes?"

"I feel sorry for Lupin, unbelievable as it might seem. I know what it's like to not have any friends, to be the odd one and I'm not so unkind as to inflict that on someone else."

"Do you think, in light of that fact, you can keep quiet about what happened tonight for awhile?"

"No. They went too far this time. Maybe they did have a plan in fourth year. I believe that completely, but you can't tell me Black had any other intention in mind besides getting me killed tonight. I can't let that pass."

"I know. I want to believe Sirius didn't intend for anything bad to happen to you but I admit it doesn't look good. So, I'm not sure what to do about him, but Remus shouldn't have to be punished for something he had no part in, no control over. If you start telling people he'll be forced to leave school, then he'll never have a decent life. Please, he's done so much for us this year, given us the plan and been friendly to you. He's constantly telling the rest of them to leave you alone. Please, Sev, for me."

"So, Black and Potter and Pettigrew get away with it?"

"No, let's find out all of the information before we start telling, then once we have the full story I'll go to Dumbledore with you myself."

Severus' eyes grew wide with shock. "Really?"

"Yes, I just want to be sure the right people are punished."

"That – sounds fair. All right, I won't say anything, for now, but I'm not keeping quiet about this forever."

"Just give me a few days."

"I can do that."

"You're the best, Sev. Come on, we need to go or you'll get caught out after curfew and I wouldn't want you to get detention on top of everything else."

Severus stood up and held out a hand to her "Lil, I'm sorry I broke the pact."

"I guess we both did, but I'll forgive you if you'll forgive me," she stated, grabbing his hand and pulling herself up.

"There's nothing to forgive."

"Good." She smiled at him and walked across the room, scooping his book up off the floor. "Here."

"Thanks."

"Did you like your bath?"

"Yeah, that's one hell of a tub, practically a pool."

Lily laughed as they passed through the doorway. "Feel free to use it whenever you want. Just don't tell anyone."

"Not a peep. Night, Lil."

"Night, Sev, I'll see you in the morning."

Lily entered the Great Hall the next morning feeling a little trepidatious, she had no idea what to expect from this day. She had not seen a single one of the marauders this morning, not that she had expected to see Remus, usually he spent the day after the full moon in the hospital wing recovering. After scanning the Slytherin table for Severus, he wasn't there; she sat down next to Alice and picked at a plate of bacon and eggs.

"Lily, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing."

"Are you sure? You've been really quiet since last night. You're not part of the whole Sirius, James thing are you?"

Lily's eyes met Alice's blue ones. "What Sirius, James thing?"

"You didn't know?"

Lily shook her head.

"They had a terrific row this morning. I could hear them shouting at one another…" Alice stopped her story abruptly.

Lily was about to ask her to continue when she heard James. She only had to glance at him to see he looked exhausted, completely beaten down and defeated. "Lily, can I speak to you in private?"

"Of course."

Lily rose from the table and followed James out of the Hall and up several flights of stairs to a deserted corridor.

"I talked to Sirius this morning."

"And?"

"I can't say I have all the details totally clear, but it seems he meant for me to find Snape and stop him. Sirius just didn't let me in on the plan. But Snape was early and so things didn't work out the way Sirius wanted them to."

"Why would he do that? Severus was leaving you alone wasn't he?"

"Yes. I don't fully understand why he did it. But…" A blush was starting to creeping up James' face. "I think the general idea was to get Snape away from you."

"Where is he?"

"Lily, I know Snape's your best friend and most likely you're more than a little upset right now."

Lily couldn't hold back her sneer. "You think?"

"But, I told you, Sirius thinks Snape's only a moment or two away from joining You-Know-Who's ranks and he doesn't want to see you hurt. It was stupid and – well, it was just stupid and I've told him so."

"You're not the only one he's going to hear it from. Where is he? The common room, the dorm?"

"He's telling Remus what he did."

Lily's hand flew to her mouth. "Really?"

"Yeah. So I can't stay too long. I just wanted to let you know… Listen Lily, is Snape going to tell?"

Lily sighed. "He agreed not to say anything until we found out what happened but then…"

"So he is."

"Yes, he'll go to Dumbledore and I can't fault him for that."

"I understand. I just don't want my best friend to be expelled for one act of stupidity."

"I can try talking to Sev but he's livid about this. I don't think he can be dissuaded."

James nodded. "Thank you for trying, Lily I know I appreciate it and I'm positive Sirius will too."

He walked slowly away and had almost reached the corner before Lily yelled out after him. "James!"

He pivoted quickly "Yes?"

"I know I said this last night, but it really would help if you apologized to Severus, both of you."

James said nothing, merely looked at her for a long moment before nodding his ascent and walking away.

Once again Lily was left to wonder if James intended to apologize or not. And even if he did, she didn't think Severus would accept or forgive. Like James, Lily didn't want Sirius to have to leave school, he was a loose canon at times and his friends seemed to be the only thing that held him back, so what he would be without them she didn't know. She trudged back to the Great Hall, somehow, and she didn't have the slightest idea how she would pull it off, she was going to have to convince Severus to say nothing about the whole incident.

She half-hoped he wouldn't be in the Great Hall when she got back, but there he was, sitting in the seat closest to the door. Her heart plummeted; this was going to be difficult. Her feet felt weighted down by a ton of lead, there was no way that he would agree to this, but she had to at least try.

Having reached him, Lily spent several fluttering heartbeats staring at the long black hair that was obscuring his face. He must have sensed someone watching him because eventually he slowly raised his head. The eyes that had been wary promptly filled with happiness and then just as swiftly turned worried.

"Lil?"

"Se…" her voice was caught in her throat, she cleared it as he slowly shut the book in front of him. "Sev, I need to talk to you. Alone, please."

Severus had risen from the table and thrust the book under his arm before she had even finished. Mutely they headed outside, towards the forest. The minutes ticked by slowly but she could still come up with nothing to say.

"Lil, just tell me," he finally requested.

She took a deep breath before rapidly telling him what James had relayed to her. When Lily paused to take a breath, Severus apparently took this as the end of her tale and whipped furiously around, headed back towards the castle.

"Sev, wait!"

He paused, clearly thinking that she was going to uphold her end of the bargain and go with him to speak to the headmaster.

"What are you going to tell Dumbledore?"

"The truth."

"Okay. And what are you going to say you want done to Sirius?"

"I want him out." Lily opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off before she got some much as a syllable out. "Don't worry, I'll tell Dumbledore I know Lupin had nothing to do with it. I promise you the only people I'll ask to have punished are Black and whoever wrote the note. Is that fair to you?"

It was remarkably fair of him and in all honesty a little more even-handed than she had expected. How could she possibly ask him to not ask for the punishment he suggested when she was so proud of the growth it showed? "Sev, it's just, could you maybe ask that Sirius not be expelled?"

A thousand emotions swirled in the jet black eyes, but all she could see was the hurt.

"I know you don't want to and I feel wretched asking…"

"Then why are you?"

Oh Merlin, she had never heard him sound this angry. "I – I don't – because everyone deserves a second chance."

"And he's had his!"

"I know."

"God! I knew you would defend them!"

"Please don't shout Severus."

"Don't shout! Don't – I'm done – I am not having this debate with you! I'm going to Dumbledore and telling him what happened, all of it, every single thing they've ever done and I'm asking for them all to be expelled."

"Now you're just being petty."

"You bet I am! I've put up with it for years! Years they've picked on me and I've never said anything to anyone, for you! You, Lily! So you wouldn't be angry with me! Now you want me to… He wanted me dead! Would you have cared, Lil, would it have mattered to you at all? Or would you have just said it was an accident and forgiven them?!"

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare doubt my feelings for you – you Prat! If I didn't love you then I wouldn't be standing here! You're lucky I'm so forgiving! Or are you the only one who gets to benefit from that personality trait?

"I would have been devastated if you had died! Do you hear me? Absolutely destroyed, because the last thing I ever want to do is go to my best friend's funeral! I would have never gotten over it, Sev – never, but I hope that I would be able to find forgiveness in my heart. Otherwise it would turn me into someone else, someone you would be ashamed of." Her voice caught she was so upset.

Severus looked distraught. "Lily, I'm sorry I shouldn't have…"

"Lily, Severus."

Lily was startled to see that she and Severus had been so caught up in their row Remus had caught them unawares. The first thing to strike her was how horrid, old and worn out Remus looked.

"Clearly the two of you are in the middle of something but I'd like to be able to speak to you for a moment. If I may?"

Remus was looking directly at Severus so Lily nodded and said, "of course, I'll go."

"No, stay, you need to be here for this." Remus stood for a moment before asking, "would either of you mind if we sat? I think hunting for you wore me out."

"Remus you should be in the hospital wing. You can talk to us later."

"No, I need to do this now. I'll be fine if I can just sit."

Severus didn't say a word, he merely dropped to the ground. Remus lowered himself down gingerly, waving Lily away when she made a move to help him. He waited until she was seated before he began, though he addressed all his remarks to the dark haired boy opposite him.

"Sirius came to me this morning and told me what happened last night and in fourth year. I want you to know I was in no way involved in either incident and if I had been asked I would have never, ever agreed. My worst fear is turning someone else into the monstrosity I am.

"I never, in my darkest nightmares, imagined that someone I've considered a friend would use my curse against someone else. I do not condone what happened, no matter what imbecilic reason those three came up with. Even if you were a full-fledged Death Eater, Severus you wouldn't deserve this. I know you're angry, you have every right in the world to be and that's why I'm apologizing to you for my part in what happened."

Severus eyed the prefect closely for a moment. "You have no need to apologize, Remus. You say you didn't know what was happening and I believe you…"

"Severus, I'm apologizing for all of it, for the way that we've treated you from the very beginning. It was wrong of us and I'm sorry."

"I – I'm not very good at forgiving people, but if you mean it, then I accept your apology."

Lily beamed at Severus and if it wasn't for the distance separating them, she would have hugged him like crazy on the spot.

"I mean it," Remus affirmed. "So, that leaves us the question of what to do about Sirius."

"I'm going to Dumbledore. It's too late to do anything about fourth year and I will keep quiet about that but I can't let last night pass without any consequences."

Lily's smile faded. They were right back to where they had started.

"I'm not suggesting you do. But – I told you last Hogsmeade trip, that I hold my friends sacred and don't betray anything they tell me in confidence."

Severus nodded his remembrance

"I'm going to break that rule this one time. The truth is, Sirius' parents threw him out of the house over Christmas holidays. If he gets expelled, he has no where to go."

"I thought he ran away," Lily chimed

"That's what he's telling people but it's not the truth."

"What about this summer?" questioned Lily, for once concerned about Sirius Black's well being.

"The Potters are taking him, but I'm not certain they would agree to that in a long term way. I'm not saying what Sirius did was justifiable or right in any way shape or form but leaving him homeless seems to be an overly harsh punishment."

"What do you suggest then?" Severus asked, clearly on the defensive.

"I've talked with him about it and he's agreed to abide by whatever punishment the three of us deem fair."

"The three of us?" Lily asked, puzzled.

"He did forge your handwriting to get Severus into the tunnel so you're a legitimate party in this."

"What do you suggest, Rem?"

"I've already told him he's got detention for the rest of term. I'll turn him in tomorrow for being out of bounds after curfew and I suppose I'll throw a little something extra in there for added measure."

"That takes him out of the last quidditch match of the season," Lily pointed out.

"Yes, it does."

"Doesn't that punish the whole team?"

"James has a back up for most positions so he'll muddle through. So, what evens things out in your minds?"

"I already told James I want both him and Sirius to apologize to Sev."

Remus sighed, "Sirius is willing to apologize to you but not to Severus."

"Then detention all next term as well. I'll take care of that in the fall though so you don't have to be part of it."

"And if he changes his mind and apologizes?" Remus asked.

"Then he'll show he's growing up but he's still spending next term in the castle."

"Fair enough. Severus, what about you?"

Both sets of eyes turned towards him. Severus couldn't believe that he was sitting here deciding Sirius Black's future. He knew he could be vengeful and insist on going to Dumbledore anyway but he thought of all the nights he had spent in the Spot, foraging in rubbish bins for food, washing in the dirty river. And Lily was looking at him so beseechingly. He couldn't forgive Black or Potter but he could attempt to rise above his anger.

"No Hogsmeade next year, at all."

"Okay, anything else?"

"I think that on top of everything else is sufficient. But if he does anything else like this, then the deal is off and I go straight to the headmaster."

"Agreed."

"Rem, are you going to forgive Sirius?"

"I don't know, Lily. I don't know if I can ever really trust him again. I hope I'm wrong and we can find a way to get past it and keep being friends but for now..." Remus shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Lily." Remus looked at the ground for a moment before raising his eyes to meet Severus'. "I would like it if we could make peace, Severus. If you don't want to be friends that's fine but I'm sick of being your enemy."

Lily's eyes darted to Severus. He was ripping little patches of grass up and shredding them. This one act let her know he was seriously considering Remus' offer.

"Alright," he said slowly.

Remus smiled fully for the first time since he had joined them. "We're agreed then, Pax?"

"Pax." Severus agreed taking the proffered hand in his.

Lily gave an excited squeal and hugged them both.