The weekend passed fairly well, for almost all parties concerned.

The marauders minus Pettigrew - they decided to ban the traitor from their group - enjoyed their time immensely.

It was basically the best holiday possible.

They could have anything they wished for.

The only thing they had to do was step outside under the invisibility cloak and walk around a bit while thinking of their desires.

The only thing that didn't work, was wishing for nourishment - if snacks and sweets could be called that.

That wasn't too disheartening though. They had access to house elves that were happy to please their every need.

Between house elves and the room, there really wasn't anything to be sad about.

Even causing mischief was still possible. Once they wished to prank Snape and to their surprise a ghost-like replica with Snape's exact mannerisms awaited them inside the room.

There was truly nothing missing... So why were there moments when they felt like there was? They pushed that away, though. It was easy between all that excitement and entertainment.

Meanwhile, Peter didn't experience anything positive. He felt left alone, fearful and surprisingly betrayed.

He wondered if the other marauders had reacted the same way, had it been any other member of their group who would become a traitor. Would they have just abandoned anyone else without question?

The other three seemed to be so close to each other and always stuck together.

When they had found out, none of them had been particularly sad or asked him why he would do something like that. They had believed it quite readily and were mostly angry with him. Not sad that they lost Peter.

Peter had felt like an outsider and jealous of their friendship many times before. Their reaction confirmed to him that he had been right all along.

He wished he could be back to 1974. There, at least someone would care about him. He would have the possibility to write to his family.

Here, no one seemed to like him.

He didn't bother to wipe away the tears that streamed down his face, since no one would be there to see them anyway.

He was completely alone. In a world he didn't know.

All the while, Lily mostly enjoyed her first weekend in 1994. The school and the students or teachers, weren't all that different from 1974.

Which meant, the weekends passed the same way they had in the past.

She missed her friends and family, of course, but the new people she met here were pretty welcoming too.

She mostly spent her time with Harry and his friends, doing everything they did.

Walking outside, playing games and even studying. She was sure that Harry knew she would think about everything she left behind if she was left to her thoughts, so he did everything to distract her from it.

There wasn't a moment she didn't feel welcome or included and she knew she had Harry to thank for that.

His observant, compassionate eyes didn't miss a thing.

She had grown incredibly fond of him in a very short amount of time.

And the more time they spent together, the stronger the feeling grew.

Which was also why she was so upset when Harry came back from his first detention with Sev.

Lily, Hermione and Ron were waiting for him in the common room, when Harry entered shortly before curfew.

"Hey guys," He said, smiling at them wearily. The smile didn't reach his emerald orbs. "You didn't have to wait for me." He sat down next to Lily, in the seat that was closest to him.

"What did the git make you do?" Asked Ron angrily.

"Nothing too bad actually, just some cleaning." It was obvious that there was more to it, which made Lily narrow her eyes and look for any clues, Harry's demeanour might give away.

Of course, his appearance was as healthy as always.

He was shaky, though. And somehow, his stance seemed to have become more... insecure. The way he held himself was like he wanted to shrink and disappear from view.

"Yeah, that still sucks, mate." Ron said, scrunching up his nose. "Imagine spending hours in the same room as that greasy git." He shuddered.

Lily had to bite her lip in order to refrain from defending Severus. The way he behaved... they had every right to hate him, she supposed.

"He's not that bad, Ron." Harry surprisingly put in. Lily knew it was only because of her and she felt her heart warm at the gesture. "He really only made me clean. And after breaking the rules, I deserved it anyway."

"Are you serious?!" Ron looked so scandalised, it was almost comical. "Snape hated you from the moment he's first seen you and you're defending him?"

Harry shrugged. "I think I can understand him. Not everyone likes me."

Ron was speechless when Hermione spoke up, "I think you have every right to hate him after the way he has treated you, but I'm glad if you find some way to respect him as a teacher. Even though he's a bad one, he still is someone you should listen to and obey." Ron rolled his eyes at her Hermione-like speech.

"Yeah, okay... thanks for the advice." He said uncertainly.

Hermione perked up at that. "You're welcome."

"I'm gonna go to bed soon, I'm exhausted." He smiled at them all. "Really, thank you for waiting. Do you need anything?" The question was mostly directed at Lily, who shook her head.

UC

The next day passed without incident, so Lily had almost forgotten her worry about Harry's detention. Until Harry went to his second one.

She told Hermione and Ron to go to bed, because they looked like they were ready to bite each other's heads off. They had had one of their fights about house elves and Lily had gotten tired of them after they discussed the same arguments for what felt like the hundredth of time.

Plus, if they weren't there, she would have more of a chance to discuss the detentions.

They were reluctant at first, but seemed to be quite glad to get out of each other's hair in the end.

She knew they would just forget it until tomorrow.

When Harry entered, her worries took over full force. He looked so downtrodden and devastated somehow... only until he realised she was there, of course. Once he saw her, he put on one of his happy and confident masks, which infuriated her to no end.

"Hey," he said, plopping down next to her. "How are you doing?" He gestured at the potions book in her hand.

"Just revising for tomorrow." She worried her lip nervously. "I'm so nervous about being alone with him... I don't know if I should talk to him, he seems bothered by my presence." She looked down at her hand, which was fiddling with a loose thread of her sleeve.

"Lily," Harry spoke more firmly than Lily had ever heard him speak, making her look up instantly. "No sane person is bothered by you." His emerald green eyes looked deep within her identical ones. "You are one of the kindest and bravest people I've ever met. The way you stood up to him the last time... for me...despite everything you know." Why did he say it like it was an unimaginable thing to do? "What I wanna say is that you're amazing and that Snape is a fool if he doesn't like you."

Lily couldn't hold it back anymore. She threw her arms around him and hugged him, not even realising his surprised flinch this time.

"What... what..." Harry was extremely surprised by the unexpected show of affection and only awkwardly patted her back, "It's okay..."

Lily pulled away and wiped at her eyes. She could be overly emotional sometimes.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine." She said with a small smile. "Thanks for cheering me up. I feel a lot better now."

"That's good." He smiled back at her sincerely.

"So..." She spoke up, changing the subject. "What exactly is happening during your detentions with Sev? You look absolutely exhausted. You can't hide anything from me, remember?"

He sighed, but surprisingly answered her, "Nothing much, I just can't really take criticism so well... and Snape, well, he likes 'taking me down a peg'." He leaned back wearily in his seat, examining his fiddling hands, looking so unsure and shaky that it broke Lily's heart. "It's not like he's done anything bad, I'm just super sensitive is all."

Lily knew he was defending Severus for her sake and as such wasn't telling her the whole truth. But looking over at his small and hurt form, fully awakened Lily's protective instinct.

She felt so angry at Severus, an anger she usually had only ever exhibited on his behalf when dealing with Potter and his group. Sev had also ever been the only one she had ever felt so protective of.

How ironically these roles had been reversed.

She had half a mind to storm to his office that instant, but restrained herself. She would give him her piece of mind tomorrow, no matter what.

"Lily...Liiiily !" Harry waved his hand in front of her face. When she looked up at him with those angry and determined eyes, he faltered, "Is... everything alright?"

"Yes, more than alright."

"If you say so." He said, looking at her uncertainly. "I won't have detention tomorrow by the way. Must be because of your extra lesson. See? He hasn't forgotten it. I have to go on the weekend though." He shrugged.

Her anger flared up again. Giving him more detention because he wasn't there? This was so unfair! And if there was one thing Lily couldn't take, it was unfairness. Suddenly, she seemed to have lost all her fear of talking to Sev.

"Let's go to sleep. We'll have a looong day tomorrow." The eery way she said 'long' made a shiver run down Harry's spine.

UC

"Harry, this can't go on anymore!" Hermione exclaimed at the dinner table on Monday. She had been giving Harry worried and suspicious glances at most meals since the beginning of the school year so far. They had only intensified over time.

This was the breaking point apparently; when she couldn't hold it in anymore. Harry wondered when it would come.

"You have barely eaten anything the whole week!" She was doing something akin to whisper-screaming, which luckily none of the people of the barely populated Great Hall paid attention to.

No people were around them, so they hopefully didn't have the opportunity to overhear their conversation.

"Lay othhh 'im, Mione." Ron said with a mouthful of food, then swallowed. "Maybe it's because you're pestering him all the time that he doesn't eat. Let the poor bloke breathe."

"He will stop breathing if we don't do anything about his atrocious eating habits soon!"

"Does he look like he's starved?" Ron gestured at Harry, who was sitting next to him. "No! So he must eat enough when he isn't in the Great Hall!"

Harry looked up to share the exasperated look he usually shared with Lily when they bickered, Lily however seemed rather worried. She was probably worried about the detention.

"Appearances can be deceptive Ronald! Especially in the Wizarding world!" Harry would have paled, had his glamour charm not been perfectly in place. He shifted uncomfortably.

"Wait... What?... Are you suggesting that he..." Without warning, he burst out laughing.

Hermione glared at him. "Besides, he doesn't have enough TIME alone to eat all the meals he misses, since we are always with him."

"Er... guys, you know that I'm right here, right?" Harry said in a small voice, somehow irrationally afraid that they would hate him for speaking up. The Dursleys used to talk about him even when he was in the room, and at that moment they reminded him a bit of them.

"Sorry, mate. I got a bit carried away there."

"Of course, sorry, Harry." Hermione blushed. "I'm just worried about you. That you might be developing something serious..." Ron rolled his eyes and Harry frowned.

"Hermione, I'm okay, really." Harry tried to reassure her. "I'm just a bit ill is all, I haven't had much of an appetite lately, I might be coming down with something."

"You should go and see Madame Pomfrey for real then." Hermione said, still sounding unconvinced.

"I promise I will if I miss another meal again."

"Thanks Harry," she looked like she wanted to throw herself at him over the table, but restrained herself. "I am just so worried about you."

"You have no reason to be worried, Hermione." He reached over to pat her arm.

He turned to Lily, "Are you nervous about your lesson with Snape?" She had told them all that she would get extra lessons, just not that she and Sev were, or had been, friends.

Harry was surprised that among the nervousness she suddenly radiated anger and determination, "A bit. Come to think of it, I should go and get my potions supplies. See you later."

"Bye," They chorused.

"What's up with her?" Harry asked, bemused.

Hermione and Ron started laughing simultaneously, their earlier quarrel forgotten.

Harry narrowed his eyes at them. "What's up with you two?"

"It's just that... you usually get this look, when you're about to rush into danger to save someone." Ron explained.

"Yes, the exact same expression." Hermione added, "And it's funny that you don't see it."

"Hahaha, very funny." They started laughing again at the face he made. Harry didn't show it on the outside, but deep inside he was smiling at their happiness.

UC

Her anger and determination hadn't abated at all when she arrived in front of Sev's door. What's more, it seemed to have flared to a dangerous level and she had half a mind to kick the door in.

It took a lot of willpower to restrain herself and knock without alerting the whole castle.

Once she was inside the room, that was probably warded with silencing charms, she knew it wouldn't take much to set her off.

"Miss Jackson," Snape said, not looking up from the essays he had been marking. "I think I have made it quite clear in the letter you received today at lunch, that your extracurricular lessons have been cancelled." His voice was neutral. Very much so. It was so uncaring that it hurt.

"You do not require my assistance. Your work this week has been quite acceptable, especially considering Potter is your partner." He sneered.

This brought up even more feelings of fierce protectiveness and anger and Lily burst.

"What has he ever done to you, huh?!" She yelled. "Almost everything you say about him is an insult! No one deserves that, let alone Harry. Why did you turn into the bully you always hated?!"

She saw Snape pale and finally look up at her. He seemed to finally LISTEN!

"Miss Jackson you need to-"

"Harry doesn't deserve that!" Her anger only seemed to get worse. "He would never hurt anyone on purpose and every insult of yours makes him even more self-conscious than he already is!"

"Surely, you realise it's all an act to-"

"No, Severus! I've always stood up to Potter and it took me a glance to realise how different Harry is from him!"

"Miss Jackson-"

"Why do you hate me so much?" Lily asked, tears gathering in her eyes. "You're calling me this fake name, you keep ignoring me and you hate my future son who is like me!"

Snape stayed silent, not knowing what to say. It hurt to see her hurt like that.

"What have I done to you? Did we have a fight? I don't understand..." She held back a sob.

For a while Snape stayed silent. He didn't trust himself to speak without breaking down... Seeing her upset like this reminded him of the fight that destroyed their friendship and the many mistakes he had made. Maybe it would be better to let her go now, it would probably hurt less for the both of them.

But... he just couldn't bear to see her like this.

"I'm sorry, Lily," He whispered, for the first time in many years, not in control of his emotions. "I'm sorry."

Lily could hear that he wasn't simply apologising to her... it seemed like an apology for so much more... It was probably directed at her future self.

She couldn't help but feel sorry for this man that was Severus but also not. There was so much pain in his eyes and now his whole face seemed to be eaten by it.

"We had a fight in fifth year, but it was my fault." He said in bitterness. "Not yours. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Lily. I destroyed everything."

"I'm sure it's not entirely your fault." Lily said, hesitantly putting a comforting hand on the man's shoulder. "It's been so long ago. No matter what you did, I've certainly forgiven you. You shouldn't beat yourself up about that."

He just shook his head mutely. He didn't want to tell her, but he knew she deserved to know. She should know who she wanted to spend time with now.

"During fifth year... I spent more and more time with those Slytherin friends you hated." Lily nodded.

"I was foolish for doing so... but at the time they and the regime they followed seemed to be the solution for everything."

"Did you join-"

"No, not yet." Snape said bitterly. "That was after I screwed up our friendship by calling you... a mudblood."

It hurt a lot to hear that word coming from her best friend, but seeing the sorrow written on his face almost 20 years after it happened, made her forgive him almost instantly.

"It's okay, Sev." She said, "I forgive you."

His face snapped up, as if struck by a lightning. The sadness and hope in his eyes made her feel guilty for something she hasn't done yet.

She could understand her future self, though. Maybe she would have reacted differently with different circumstances.

The hope in his eyes quickly vanished when he spoke again, "You won't forgive me for what I am about to tell you."He was silent for a while, seemingly gathering himself.

Then he took a deep breath and Lily knew this would be something big. "I am responsible for your death."

For a moment she was silent, then, "I'm sure it's not-"

"There was a prophecy." He said suddenly, making Lily frown in confusion. This seemed rather random. "A prophecy I overheard as a death eater. The prophecy talked about someone who would vanquish the dark lord and I told him what I overheard." Dread started to fill Lily as she recognised what Severus was about to confess to her. She shook her head. "I didn't know it meant your son, you have to believe me... But it was my fault that he went after your family. You have every right to hate me."

Lily didn't know what to say, so she remained silent. She still had to think about what this meant. Neither one of them said anything for a while.

"You should leave." Severus spoke up quietly, back to not looking at her.

"Sev..."

When she didn't leave, he said,

"Please go." He was pleading brokenly now and Lily didn't know what else to do, so she left.