A/N: Once again, constructive criticism is recommended, I definitely don't have tons of experience when it comes to the grammar and structure and all for stories. Let me know if you enjoy :)
After Potter's telling off as provided by Alice Prewett the three girls had left to look for Lily again. Marlene and Dorcas praised Alice for her effective scolding of James as they walked through the grounds.
"That was bloody brilliant Al." Dorcas said smiling at Alice.
"It was pretty damn smooth wasn't it." Alice replied through a rueful smile. "You don't think it was too drastic do you?" She asked the two girls, absent mindedly pulling on a strand of her dark blonde hair.
Marlene turned to her.
"You've done us all a favour Al. It's what we've all been thinking. Everyone else is just too scared to say it. Well, apart from maybe Lily. Cas is right it was bloody brilliant." Alice let out a relieved sigh before saying:
"We just need to find Lily now. Do you think she's ok?"
Marlene sighed as well.
"No... I don't think she's ok at all. Did you see her face when Snape said that to her? He's been snubbing her all year. Hanging out more with scum like Mulciber and Avery." Marlene was shaking her head sadly, looking down at the gravel surrounding the lake that the girls had wandered to whilst they were talking. "I don't think he realises how much he means to her." She raised her head and looked out to the lake, her light blonde hair brushed her cheeks gently in the breeze. "He's gone and done it now. I don't think Lily will be able to forgive him this time." The girls stood in a thoughtful silence for a few minutes. Dorcas broke it first.
"We should head to the library and try and read over some notes for tomorrow or something, Lily will find us when she's ready." Alice and Marlene nodded their assent and turned back to the castle.
"Last exam girls." Marlene said with a grin. "We just need to power through and then we'll be free for a week before heading home for the summer." Alice blew out a puff of air and tilted her head back, taking in the sun.
"Lets do this."
The 5th years OWL exams had finished 6 days ago and they had had a blissful week of no classes before they were due to head back to London on the first of July. Lily was lounging in an armchair reading one of her favourite books- Pride and Prejudice. Whilst Alice and Dorcas played a relaxed game of chess on the ground in front of her. Lily had felt terrible going into her transfiguration exam the day after the drama with Severus and she dreaded getting her result come the middle of August. She had avoided Sev for about 24 hours before she was stopped by him after leaving the great hall after a leisurely breakfast. She was with Marlene when she heard a familiar voice calling her name. She stopped dead, Marlene had grabbed her wrist,
"You don't have to see him." She had whispered, "I can distract him while you make a runner." Lily had smiled gratefully but had told Mar that she had to do this. She turned slowly to face him and raised an eyebrow inquisitively at him.
"What is it Sev?" She had asked crossing her arms across her chest. Marlene was stood protectively at her side. Severus had stopped as her green eyes landed on him. They weren't the same welcoming emerald they had once been. Her expression was closed and guarded. A flash of hurt crossed Sev's face as he regarded her. He recognised this stance, this was how she looked whenever she was talking to Potter and his stupid friends. This was how Lily Evans looked when she'd had enough of people's crap and was ready to shut them down. Severus had been in Marlene's place countless times but had never been on the receiving end of her green eyed glare and it struck him dumb for a long moment. Lily's resolve was steadily crumbling and behind her cool facade she desperately hoped that Severus would apologise for everything he'd done this year and their friendship could continue as normal. Deep down, she suspected Severus had made his choice and the familiar prickling behind her eyes and the constricting pain that wrapped around her chest was making it harder for her to breathe.
"What do you want Severus?" She asked quietly. He was about to say something when two of his Slytherin buddies came out of the great hall. Mulciber and Avery regarded Marlene and Lily coldly.
"These mudbloods troubling you Snape?" Avery asked curling his lip in disgust at the two girls. Marlene glared at Avery her hand still clamped tightly on to Lily's arm, but Lily kept her eyes locked onto Severus, challenging him to answer her question, silently pleading that he'd choose her. Snape paused before breaking eye contact with Lily and turning to Avery.
"No." He said quietly, "there's no trouble, I was just leaving." Avery smiled in approval and the three Slytherins turned in the direction of their common room. Snape kept his eyes on the floor and missed the hurt and disappointment on Lily's face and the tears in her eyes. She stared resolutely at the back of his head as he walked away, willing him to come back, but he didn't turn and Lily didn't see the self-loathing in his expression. She started to walk up to the Gryffindor common room with Marlene still clutching her arm. But she had only reached the top of the first flight before the lump in her throat became too hard to swallow and the tears too insistent to will back. Marlene stopped her and brought her into a tight hug.
"I'm so sorry Lily." Marlene whispered, "I'm so sorry." And Lily broke down and cried tears that she thought she'd run out of for her old best friend.
That was 5 days ago and Lily hadn't seen him since. Her and her friends had spent the days lounging by the lake and getting a tan, well in Lily's case it wasn't so much getting a tan as it was getting a few more freckles and some sun burn. They talked about their plans for the summer. Alice would be spending her summer at her family flat in London as both her parents were high up in the ministry and would be going in and out of the ministry constantly. Alice was dreading it, she didn't know London that well and was praying that someone she knew would be around to alleviate the boredom she was sure to suffer from. Lily was staying at home in the Midlands for the first week before embarking on a family holiday to the south of France for two weeks, Lily wasn't looking forward to being in such close proximity to her nightmarish sister but was excited to see her parents, she had promised Alice she would try and meet up with her in London. Dorcas was spending two weeks at home in Yorkshire with her parents and two brothers before going to Spain for two weeks. Marlene was returning to her family in Dublin, Marlene was a muggle born and her little brother was two years younger than her and wasn't magical but they had a very close relationship. All the girls were meeting up in Rome in August for the Quidditch World Cup match between Italy and England. They would be there for a week before they all came back home. The girls all vowed to write to each other and meet up when they could.
Lily's book slipped from her hand and fell to the floor when the portrait hole slammed open with a loud bang, startling her. A furious Sirius Black marched into the common room, clutching his broomstick tightly. James Potter stumbled in behind him.
"Who does that scumbag think he is talking about my brother like that!" Sirius shouted whirling to face James, gesticulating with his free hand wildly. "I'm gonna kill him! Why did you stop me? I'm gonna kill him!" He made to move past James and go back through the portrait hole but James barred his way with his own broomstick.
"No you're not Sirius." He said calmly "You need to calm down mate."
"Calm down!" Sirius roared back incredulously. "I'll calm down when I get my hands on that slimeball!" James looked around the common room desperately, as if he was looking for something that would help him calm Sirius down. Instead his hazel eyes fell on Lily's green ones, who had been watching their exchange curiously. A pleasant outcome that had occurred from the whole Snape drama and Alice's legendary telling off was that James Potter hadn't spoken a word to Lily since the whole thing, he hadn't asked her out once and as far as Lily was aware he hadn't hexed anyone either. The Marauders' pranks had continued but they were no longer bordering on bullying. It had been strange for Lily when Potter suddenly stopped asking her out all the time when he had been doing it all year, but Lily had gotten some blissful peace and quiet ever since. He turned back to Sirius.
"C'mon Sirius, let's go upstairs, you're drawing a crowd. We'll get him back. Alright?" Sirius was breathing heavily and his face was flushed with anger but he allowed Potter to lead him towards the boys dorms. Lily turned to Alice and Dorcas curiously, they had also been watching the boys' loud conversation. Dorcas raised her eyebrows as she spoke.
"Wonder what that was about." Lily sighed and leaned back against her chair.
"There's only one person I know that can get under Black's skin like that." She said looking at Alice and Dorcas, their eyes widened in recognition.
"Snape." They said in unison. Alice leaned against the front of Lily's chair frowning.
"The thing is though, it sounded like James stopped him from attacking him for whatever he said about his brother. Usually James takes any opportunity to do something to Snape." Dorcas nodded thoughtfully and said
"Yeah, but did you see Black's face. He was really angry. It looked he would've done something dreadful to him, maybe Potter knew that and stopped him getting into big trouble."
"Since when has Potter worried about getting into trouble." Lily scoffed. "He told Black they'd get him back. They're probably up there right now coming up with some elaborate humiliating 'prank' to pull on him." Dorcas laughed and turned to Alice.
"Maybe your dear cousin listened to what you said and is trying to do something about it Alice." Alice laughed as well and they turned back to their game.
"Well, we'll see if I managed to get through that thick skull of his." Alice replied. Lily picked up her book but didn't have much time to ponder Potter's strange behaviour before Marlene came into the common room laughing with Andrew McGil. Andrew was a funny boy with an attractive Scottish accent who was also in their year in the second Gryffindor boys dormitory. He had spiky light brown hair and twinkling eyes the colour of chocolate. Him and Marlene had met on the train in first year and had been best friends ever since. Lily was convinced that Andrew fancied Marlene and that Mar was too blind to see it. She waved them over and put her book down, Andrew said goodbye to Marlene and gave Lily a friendly wave before heading up to his dorm. Marlene sat on the arm of Lily's chair. Lily smiled wickedly at Marlene and wriggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"What were you guys doing?" Marlene gave her a swift jab to the stomach.
"Shut it Red. We just went on a walk."
"So that's what they're calling it nowadays huh?"
Lily shot back. Moments later Marlene had turfed a laughing Lily out of her chair, right into the middle of Alice and Dorcas' chess game, the pieces went flying as Dorcas quickly dodged a flailing flip flop that had flown off Lily's foot . They both shouted in protest.
"I was about to checkmate her!" An annoyed Dorcas shouted.
"Was not!" Came a muffled, indignant Alice. She was drowned out by a dramatic Lily who threw a hand over her eyes, groaning and unearthed a chess piece that had dug into her side with the other.
"Alas! I have been impaled with a rogue chess piece! You must summon a healer at once!" Marlene reluctantly laughed as she rolled her eyes at her friends antics, and Alice snorted from beneath the chair where she had taken refuge when Lily fell.
"You deserved it Red." Marlene said. Lily clambered to her feet, replacing her flip flop and smiling good naturedly, her eyes twinkling. "There's someone outside the portrait asking for you by the way." Marlene added. The humour left Lily's face and she sighed
"Let me guess. Severus?" Marlene nodded an affirmation, frowning.
"I told him I'd tell you but he shouldn't expect to see you after what he did. You don't have to see him Lily." Lily smoothed her dark red hair back, sighing sadly.
"I should go, maybe we can finish this thing and get some kind of..." she gestured vaguely searching for the word. "I dunno, closure or something."
"If you must." Said Marlene.
"We'll be right here." Alice added whilst Dorcas nodded. Lily gave a half hearted smile and made her way to the portrait hole. She reached it and took a deep breath before climbing out to face Severus.
Severus stood outside the portrait hole, chewing his nails worriedly. He'd told one of Lily's friends that he wished to speak with her, hopefully she would've got the message. He'd also had a run in with Potter and Black, he sneered victoriously when he thought about it. It was so easy to get under Black's skin when he mentioned how his brother Regulus was getting more involved in some of Avery and Mulciber's... "activities" and just had to watch as Black became furious in a way only his family could cause. However Severus had been surprised when instead of cursing him Potter had forced Black through the portrait. He'd have to think about some different ways to get under Potter's skin. Severus was ashamed of himself for how he'd acted earlier in the week when he had tried to talk to Lily in the entrance hall. He wanted to apologise to her and try and set things right. He was second guessing his decision when the portrait hole opened and out came his best friend. Her red hair had darkened from the carroty ginger it used to be when they were younger, it hung about her shoulders in loose waves. She was wearing a pair of denim shorts that accentuated her slim legs and a black sphagetti strap top that showed off the individual curves of her collarbone and neck. Severus thought she was the most beautiful girl in Hogwarts but of course he could never tell her that. The sight of her took his breath away for a few moments and he realised how much he'd missed her this year. He had been distant with her because the "activities" of him and a select group of Slytherin pupils had become more important and dark and he wanted to protect her. He couldn't tell her about them because he knew she would disapprove. Her upstanding morals wouldn't allow her to keep his friendship, she wouldn't understand that he was doing it for the right reasons. She wouldn't understand that this time, the end justified the means. He snapped out of his musings as she spoke quietly,
"What do you want Severus?" His dark eyes snapped back up to her face, she sounded... sad and had bags under her eyes, that were just noticeable under the light make up that she wore. Snape gritted his teeth it was probably Potter being a prat to her again.
"I came to apologise Lily. I'm sorry for what I said at the lake. It just..." he trailed off. Her penetrating gaze hadn't left his face.
"Just what? Slipped out? It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends... You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine." Severus was taken aback, she sounded angry. Why was she still angry? He thought that she would've calmed down by now.
"Well yes it did. It's just words Lily. I didn't mean it!" He protested.
"But you said it Sev!" Lily shouted, Snape's eyes widened. Lily had barely ever shouted at him. "You said it, which means that somewhere in your mind you were thinking it. It's more than words Sev. It's your mindset! You and your friends, you think what you're doing is good or worthwhile but it's not, you're propagating a stupid ideal that's getting people hurt. I know that you think that psycho in the news has got the right idea- trying to start again and rebuild wizarding society or whatever. But he's doing it at the expense of people like me!" Lily's eyes were bright and her face was red. Severus was shocked by how much she knew, he interrupted her.
"Lily, listen-" but she cut him off taking a step towards him.
"Don't! Don't defend them to me Severus. You told me my blood status changed nothing. But it does, because of this psycho it changes everything for you." Her chest was heaving as she looked at him. Sev didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. Lily started to turn away. Her voice was shaking. "You've made your decision and I've made mine Sev. You want to be a death eater or whatever you call yourselves and that means we can't be friends anymore, you've chosen your path." Severus wanted to say something, anything to the girl in front of him, but the unfamiliar lump in his throat made it too hard to speak. Lily looked at him, hurt and sadness filling her eyes.
"You've chosen your path." She turned away towards the portrait hole, she was facing the fat lady who was looking at something in the distance, pretending she wasn't eavesdropping on the conversation in front of her.
"You've broken your promise Sev." Lily whispered, her voice breaking before she clambered through the portrait hole. Severus could only stare at the spot she had stood. Promise? What promise? He turned to head back to his own common room, numbed by what had just transpired when with a jolt he remembered a moment back in first year when he had made a vow to Lily Evans. His vision blurred with unshed tears and he punched the wall opposite the fat lady in anger, causing her to exclaim in surprise. Severus Snape had ruined the most important thing in his life, he was filled with a bitter anger and stormed off down the corridor. He had ruined his friendship with the green eyed girl who'd given him a chance and gotten to know him 7 years ago, he had pushed away the girl he loved.