Previously on Deals with Life and Lilies:
"The night Stoughton was murdered by Bellatrix Black."
There. It was out. Now Alice would know what she heard while under the effects of Rawlings' potion. Alice would understand why she had been so terrible for the last several weeks of second year.
Alice let slip a little gasp of fear before adopting her much gentler tone. "What happened?" Lily could hear the poorly concealed terror of what Lily would tell her, but she was appreciative of the effort all the same.
Lily hesitated two more seconds, Bellatrix's anger and the hopelessness she had felt as she hid behind the wall flashing in her mind, before spilling out the entire story to Alice.
Yet Another Party
"Slughorn's Christmas party is later today," said Alice, holding up a long, gold dress with the silky fabric flowing and a tight black dress.
"Yes, I know," said Lily while she lounged on the bed with one of her books. "There are a whole bunch of Slytherins going."
Alice placed both dresses on her bed and turned to Lily, biting her lip anxiously. "Do they know what happened at the end of second year?"
Lily paused before answering. Did they? She had always imagined all the Slytherins except Severus as a single unit, knowing the same things and possessing the same Dark spells they loved.
"I don't know. Bellatrix and her cronies had fled without returning to the common room."
"I still can't believe that you never told anybody," she responded, walking over to Lily's bed and seating herself on the edge. "I mean, if I had known then I would have told everybody to stop with the stairs jokes."
Lily's lips quirked into the smallest laugh. "I was scared and embarrassed about it. I didn't want people questioning me about that night."
Alice put her arm around Lily's shoulders and gave her a comforting squeeze. "You won't have any of that from me unless you want me to know. And besides, I have no wish to know about the Unforgivable Curses and what it's really like when somebody uses them."
"Thanks."
A pause and then: "Now, off your butt, missy. We need to decide what dress you're wearing."
"Lily?"
Lily nearly jumped out of her seat. The sun was setting, letting off a brilliant orange glow on her Charms homework she was working on in the library.
"Can I sit here?" Dorcas pulled out a chair, which screeched against the wood. "There's nothing I can do about it," she added as a young Madam Pince glared at her reproachfully.
"Sure. Do you need help with something?" Lily said, never taking her eyes off her parchment.
"Actually I wanted to talk to you," she said. Lily glanced up for the first time in two hours, startled to see an unusually apprehensive Dorcas.
"About what?"
Dorcas bit her lip as if unsure how to approach the subject on the tip of her tongue. "You remember Sara Gonzalez?"
Lily nodded. She had met Sara several times, and the two girls had gotten on fairly well. Sara was quiet and shy but also very nice. Lily waved her hand for Dorcas to go on.
"Well, she keeps running into trouble with several Slytherins. And it isn't just her either but also Mary, Sam Fairfield from Ravenclaw, and Beth Quagmire, also from Ravenclaw."
"All the Muggle-borns in our year," said Lily, more to herself as if confirming it rather than asking Dorcas.
Dorcas nodded and launched into an explanation without waiting for Lily to ask any questions. "A lot of the Slytherins have been harassing all of them, throwing around curses and the M word so much that I think it's considered the norm in the Slytherin common room."
"Tell a teacher."
"Sara doesn't have any proof. She only remembers bits and pieces. It's like somebody made her forget, but they didn't have a strong enough charm."
Lily frowned. "Look, Dorcas, I'm happy that you're telling me this, but I can't do anymore than you can. I'm only a fourth year."
Dorcas shifted, and Lily knew she hadn't heard the worst part. "It's just…don't know how to say it." Dorcas stared at her feet and mumbled, "Severussnapeisapartofit."
"Sorry?"
Dorcas looked Lily directly in the eye and said, "Severus Snape is a part of it."
Lily shook her head, thinking she had misheard. Severus himself had told her that he wasn't aware of anything his friends got up to. "Severus wouldn't do that. He's my friend."
Dorcas went back to looking at her feet and said, "I know that you're his friend, even though he wants it to be something more, but-"
Now this was going too far. "No," Lily said flatly. "Both he and I know it could never go that way. I don't like him that way, and he does not like me that way."
"Lily," Dorcas was suddenly very impatient, "Are you telling me you haven't seen the way he looks at you or the presents he sends you or the way you're the only Muggle-born he hasn't bullied yet?"
Lily opened her mouth and paused. They were all very good reasons, but Severus couldn't like her that way, could he? First off, she didn't harbor those kinds of feelings toward him or anybody else. Second, she still got bullied by Avery and his gang. Sure, she stood up for herself, and they learned to back off, but that didn't put a complete stop to it.
Dorcas nodded, satisfied, "Exactly. You don't have an argument for that, and you're Lily Evans; you always have a case for everything. So I am asking you, friend to friend, to please talk to Snape and get him to reign in his little cronies."
Lily sighed. "Slughorn has an early Christmas party tonight, and both I and Severus are invited. I'll ask him then." Again, Lily added in her head.
"Why is Slughorn having a Christmas party when Christmas is still four days away?"
Lily shrugged. "He wants everybody to be there, especially since Riley and Alexandra have both graduated last year. I think he wants to get other people signed so he can get more free tickets. Besides, half the Slug Club is of age, and I'm willing to bet that some of them will attend the New Year's Eve Ball since some, probably most, are members of well-known, pure-blooded families."
They both laughed at Slughorn's motives, remembering the way he hounded Riley and Alexandra last year, pointing out suggestions for different teams. He was very nice, but Lily was still wary of his earlier surprise of a good Muggle-born witch. Lily knew why Slughorn only invited certain people, and she thought it was selfish for him to ignore other people when they still had chances at succeeding.
"Do you know who's invited?"
"Me, Severus, Astoria Gamp from Slytherin, Alice, Amelia Bones, that fifth year from Hufflepuff, Dirk Cresswell from Ravenclaw, he's a year ahead of us, a lot of sixth and seventh years, and Kingsley. I heard the Mark Wood is stopping by for a visit. Did you know that he and Riley are dating now? Oh, and Frank Longbottom, the fifth year from Gryffindor."
"Poor Jesse McClaggen. Riley didn't spend any time for him," Lily mocked.
Dorcas smiled. "Didn't Slughorn invite Sirius and James as well?"
"He did but don't remind me."
"Lily, you look gorgeous," Marlene said as Lily folded her clothes on her bed.
"If there are guys that look as good as you, can you persuade Slughorn to invite me to the next one?" Mary asked.
"You really think so?"Lily asked, studying herself in the mirror. Alice had forced her to go dressy-but-not-too-much. Her silver dress fell to her knees gracefully. The waist was scrunched up in the back, outlining Lily's developing figure and accentuating parts, but it was still very simple. Flat, silver sandals adorned her feet-all in all, the pretty outfit that could pass for a casual date.
"Alice prided herself on finding an inexpensive but still cute dress that made Lily look beautiful without trying," Marlene explained, "And she succeeded," she added, evaluating Lily carefully.
"Oh, please. Lily could wear rags and still look stunning." Alice said emerging from the bathroom with a handful of beauty products.
Alice herself was sporting the classic tight black dress with four inch matching heels; Lily was tempted to point out that if Alice could have a number of accidents sitting down, stilettos were a death sentence. Nevertheless, since Alice had somehow managed to transform Lily with minimal make-up and simple clothes, maybe Alice had practiced enough in heels to walk without tripping. She had magically straightened her hair, showing off a much longer length than Lily had originally thought. "My turn to play with your hair. Now sit."
Alice jokingly threatened Lily with her wand. Lily complied, knowing that Alice was the only one with enough experience to deal with Lily's dark red mane, or anybody else's for that matter.
Alice hummed while she lifted parts and twirled others. Lily flashed back to the curling irons, which Petunia had been using during the summer, but she never found out why her sister bothered prettying herself up for her friends (Petunia had quite rudely shoved her out of the house before whoever she was meeting came over). The perkiness which Alice emitted did not entirely fool Lily. She knew that if anyone were to interrupt, they would be better off as a squashed bug.
And apparently bugs had a death wish today...
"LADIES! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" a voice yelled.
Alice jumped and swore violently, proving Lily's point.
"You know, Sirius, I don't think Prewett is going to be very happy with you if she's the one fixing everybody's hair. I have her pegged as the person who doesn't appreciate being cut short in something they are doing."
Sirius winked. "Relax, I have plenty of experience with the ladies for my age."
"Who's your date to the Christmas party?"
"Bell Stuart, that fifth year from Hufflepuff. She's a fine one, too. What about you, Jamsie Boy?"
"Solara Deles."
"Ah, an excellent choice, my friend, but still-"
"SIRIUS BLACK, YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD REASON TO CALL US DOWN!"
Alice appeared in the staircase, red-faced and furious with Lily trailing behind her.
James' mouth fell open for five seconds as he stared at Lily before he snapped it shut, knowing that if Sirius caught him starting, James would never hear the end of it. So instead he just gazed at Lily and her little silver dress.
Her newly curled hair fell down to the middle of her back with several locks pinned behind her ears. Alice had been a master with Lily's makeup, adding enough to outline the brilliance of her green eyes, but she had left much of it to Lily's own natural beauty.
Alice crossed her arms in front of the two ringleaders. "In case you haven't noticed, Black, but Lily and I neither need nor want your assistance to get down to Slughorn's dungeons."
Sirius saluted. "Call it chivalry."
Lily raised an eyebrow. "That only applies if it's not annoying."
"You know me so well, Ms. Evans."
"Trust me. I try not to."
"I thought you said this was casual," Lily hissed as the fifth boy they passed stared at them. Lily self-consciously tugged at the bottom of her dress.
"I did! I thought you should leave a lot of it to your own natural prettiness. I didn't realize most boys wouldn't care about subtlety," Alice said, and Lily glowered at a fourth year boy who's eyes were traveling up and down her legs too much for her comfort.
She opened the door, and Lily was thankful for the warming spells she had cast. There were so many people in the dungeon that Lily found it impossible to have any space at any given time. Alice dragged her over to the table where little snacks and some punch lay on an emerald green cloth.
"Have you seen Sev?" Lily asked her friend quietly.
Alice looked startled but shook her head. "Why?"
"I promised Dorcas I would talk to him about his friends' bullying."
Alice gasped. "This is the first time you have thought to ask him in four and a half years? Lily! Mary is your friend."
"Thanks for the update. I didn't know Severus was involved," Lily responded in a hard voice, but she was lying, and her best friend knew it.
Alice rolled her eyes. "Of course you didn't."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily demanded, her temper rising. If Alice was suggesting Lily didn't mind letting Mary get hurt just because Severus might have been involved, then Lily would have to remind Alice who she was.
"You don't care what your "friend" does. You just let him off no matter what, and he'll take advantage of that. Mary is your friend too, and you might do well to remember that," Alice retorted with her voice rising at every word.
"I have tried to talk to him!" Lily defended.
"Well, it's definitely not enough. Do you even care about the people in your own house?"
Furious, Lily turned and walked away without another word to Alice. Alice had no clue how difficult it was for her at the moment. She seemed to forget that Severus was her other best friend. She had tried to talk to him, but it was hard when trying to maintain their friendship that was getting feebler every year.
She didn't even notice as someone stepped out in front of her almost knocking her off her feet.
"Oomf!"
"Sorry!" Lily cried as the person stumbled back. "I'm so sorry; I didn't even se- Sev?"
There was no denying it as her familiar friend stood up straight. His smile lit up when he saw her. "Lily! I was looking for you. You look gorgeous by the way." Unconsciously, it seemed, Severus ran his eyes over her body.
Lily shifted uncomfortably. "Sev, I need to talk to you. It's urgent."
"I also need to talk to you. I've been experimenting with spells and-"
"Do you know how dangerous that is?"
"-and I found some that are extremely useful. The only problem is that…" Severus paused, as if he was considering the best way to continue, "That some Death Eaters have also discovered," he finished lamely.
Lily knew that Severus wasn't telling her the entire truth, but she decided to let it slide this one time. Severus would tell her in time, and Lily had more pressing issues at the minute.
"I need to talk to you about your friends."
Severus took a step back. "Lily, I told you before that they just have fun."
"What have you been doing to the other Muggle-borns?"
Severus looked taken aback. "Lily, I made sure they aren't affecting you at all-"
"Damn you, Severus!" Severus flinched as she disregarded his favorite nickname, but Lily took no notice. "Mary's one of my best friends. And the others! You say I won't be hurt, but everybody else who is is just like me."
"No, they're not," Severus stated quietly but firmly. "They have spent all their four and a half years here trying to keep up with real wizards. They strut around and take everything for granted. They get all they can from the pity of others. Those dirty people are nothing like you."
"What did you say about Mary?" Lily gasped, shocked that her best friend would sink to such levels.
Severus knew immediately tried to cover up his slip. "I just…I never…didn't mean…"
"I can't believe you. You were my friend!" Lily yelled, and Severus winced as if she physically hurt him. "I have tried to explain to my friends that you wouldn't do that. All this time you lied to me."
"Lily, look. I-" Whatever Severus was, Lily didn't find out because just then, somebody stepped out from behind a tapestry. Lily drew her wand, but the person was just as quick and had the element of surprise.
A bright purple jet of light shot from her attacker's wand and hit her squarely in the chest.
She fell down, down, down…
GAH! I am falling so behind on updates, but I have most of the next ones written. I promise that I will update as soon as humanly possible! And I also swear on my life that no matter how long it takes, I WILL NEVER abandon this story. I hate it when authors do that, and even the ones that I had to delete I haven't forgotten about.
Anyways, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Please, I love them and I can only get better with constructive criticism. I dare you guys to try to get in ten reviews for this chapter. So far I don't think you can, but I would love for you guys to prove me wrong.
Special thanks: BethMalfoy4922, alcatluvr13, lynnnnyl, Sarahrules336, and ItDidntMeanForever. Love you peoples so much for the wonderful reviews!
Your severely behind Muggle,
AlwaysRememberHolly 3.6.12
AN: Just saw Hunger Games movie...AH-MAZ-ING. Jennifer Lawrence is such an awesom actress.
