Author's Note:

This is my first story, and reviews are highly appreciated. Otherwise, it would only be me writing thinking you guys are happy with it. Point out mistakes, make fun of the plot, point out loopholes. I don't mind. That's my rant of the day, done. Thanks. Lets continue with the story.

And no, I am not mentioned in JK Rowling's last will and testament. So i don't and will never own any of these characters.

Chapter 4

The end of year feast was upon them. Lily had completed all her OWLs two weeks earlier. The results would be owled sometime in the summer. Her injury prior to the exams had not impacted her performance. Based on the expression of the examiners, she was expecting Os in all her favorite subjects.

But things had changed. The common room was colder than usual. Nobody had dared attack her post that incident. However, the overall demeanor of most of her housemates had taken a drastic turn. Earlier, she was respected and feared. After all, she was a prodigy belonging to the House of Black. Now, people whispered and spread rumors behind her back. It didn't affect her one bit. She had been playing this game way longer than them. If she wanted to, she could shame them all with one quick action. But that was beneath her station. She wouldn't stoop to their level just because they lacked the spine to speak in front of her.

But she wasn't without pain.

-Flashback-

She had lost her best friend. 'Sev' had tried to apologize to her. He had confronted her a week after the attack and tried to justify his actions. The conversation had taken place outside the girl's dormitory. Her dorm-mate had informed her that 'Sev' was waiting for her outside. He had refused to leave until she came down and listened to him. Lily wasn't interested in his apology. But for old times' sake, she had gone down.

"What did you want Severus?"

Snape observed that change in tone and the way she had addressed him. He had always been 'Sev' to her. Hearing her call out his first name was an alien experience to hi,

"Lily, I knew you couldn't stay without talking to me."

Lily was already agitated with the scene he had created in front of the dormitory. She didn't want to give him any more leeway. She spoke in a neutral tone-

"It would be better if you said what you came her to say. You are already causing a scene; I need to prepare for my OWLs and I don't want to spoil my mood any further"

"I am sorry, Lily. I am extremely sorry. I wasn't thinking-"

"And you want me to accept your apology and you hope that we can go back to normal, right?"

"Exactly, let bygones be bygones. It was a momentary lapse from my end and I promise you, I will make it up to you in any way possible. I beg of you."

"You know what, Severus? If this would have been a difference of opinion or a simple squabble, I would have probably forgiven you by now. Merlin knows, we have had so many passionate debates over the past 10 years. But this was different, wasn't it?

"Lily, let me explain- "

"I already know your justification. Let me guess, it was a heated moment and your anger got directed towards me instead of the Gryffindor. Also, the goading of your friends made you lose your presence of mind."

"So, you have already worked it out. If Avery and the others would have kept their thoughts to themselves, this would never have happened. I regret the moment. You got to believe me Lily, please!"

"But I don't believe you Sev. Over the past year, you have changed. It's as if I don't know you anymore. The friend with whom I could share my every feeling, the friend on whom I could depend on to have my back is gone. And this is not because of the attack, mind you. If it would have been anybody else on that day, I am damn sure, we would have found two corpses in Hogwarts the next day with nobody the wiser. You would have probably gloated in the common room about it with your wannabe Death eater buddies. Its only because it was me and that it backfired spectacularly in your face, that you are here with this sorry face. Let's face it. It was you, in that cold-hearted persona that fired that Cruciatus. And let's not forget the torture you and your mates meted on Potter. The Severus Snape I knew would never droop to such a level that he would gang up and bully others. Wasn't that the reason you hated your father? I still remember the small boy who told stories about a place called Spinner's end where a father would abuse a mother and son for having magic. Have you become so blind due to propaganda that you have become the same person you hated in your younger days? Tell me Severus, look into my eyes and tell me that your actions over the past year are completely justified"

Snape's demeanor had changed. He was not looking apologetic anymore. It was close to the person who had attacked her.

"Stop Lily. They are completely different scenarios and have no connection to each other whatsoever. You have no right to judge me. What I am doing, have done and plan to do is in line with what I believe. I am not a weakling anymore. I have power now, and I won't stop. People will have to think twice before thinking about taking on me and the people I care about. And you are one of them Lily. I can't live without you. Plain simple. I have already apologized. I repeat. I will do everything to make it up to you. I just need one chance."

Lily was not one to back down so easily

"And I would have gladly given it to you, if it was my best friend Sev who had asked for it. You are not that person anymore. You are morphing into a power-hungry monster who has lost all moral standing. When a person can no longer distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, that person has to suffer the consequences of his decisions. You lost your best friend that day. I highly doubt I might ever forgive you"

"So that's your decision then. Don't forget, we are betrothed. There are deeper ramifications to your stand."

"I have already conveyed my opinion to Lord Black. Expect a letter from Lord Prince in the coming days. You should have thought of the ramifications before attacking me that day. And you have the gall to threaten me with ramification? You have really fallen, Severus."

"This isn't over. We still have two years left here. Times will change. You will see. I will wait for it."

"Please leave before I regret ever being friends with you. You are not helping your cause by elongating this conversation right now."

Severus Snape gave her one last look, then turned and walked away.

Lily was cursing herself inwardly for trying to appeal to his better conscience. She had monologued into a rant trying to point out the root cause. At least now she knew where he stood in the ongoing conflict. It hurt her for losing a friend, who had been her rock for a long time. But that rock was in somebody else's hand and was sure cause a lot of people a lot of pain in days to come. She wouldn't stand for it. It was better to sever connections now than regretting it later. His veiled attempt to get family politics was not lost on her. The grief was too much for her to bear. She ran towards the bathroom and wouldn't come out for hours. At the end of the night, she would resolve herself to no longer care for her former fiancé.

-End of Flashback-

Lily knew some of the rumors were workings of the people involved in the attack. She was not sure if Snape had involved in it, but she hardly cared anymore.

The betrothal contract had been cancelled after Lord Black got to know about the attack. Her father and mother were against the cancellation. They had tried in vain to reason with Lord Black. She had gotten confirmation that the contract was no longer active. She felt as if a huge burden had been lowered. She felt free. And she had decided to make the most of it.

Another thing which was troubling her was that, she hadn't gotten an opportunity to speak with Potter. Or rather thank him for his actions. That's why she was heading towards the spot by the lake where she had seen her cousin and his gang hang out during their free time. She saw the four boys sitting leisurely and laughing about something. Potter was playing with a Golden Snitch, releasing it until it hovered a few feet and then recapturing it. Sirius was throwing rocks into the lake. Lupin was reading something (probably revisiting his OWL exams, Lily thought) and Pettigrew just looked happy to be a part of the group.

With a confident stride, she walked up to him,

"Ahem! Hi Potter. If it wouldn't be a bother, I would like to speak with you"

Potter's face lit up like the candles in the Great Hall.

"A great day to you as well, Miss Black. It would be my pleasure."

They both walked a short distance away from the group. Not out of sight, but far enough to keep their conversation private.

"Tell me Miss Black, how can I be of assistance today?" James said in a chivalrous fashion

"Do you Gryffindors always have to be so pompous all the time?"

"Not when we can't help it. Let's just say, this is one of those times"

"Be that as may, the reason I am here was to thank you for the help that day. I fear what condition I might have been in if you had intervened that day. I am in your debt."

"No, it's me who is in your debt. It was your boldness that saved me that day. The way you took down 3 of them was nothing short of marvelous. I would probably be dead, if you hadn't passed by that corridor."

"You had no reason to save me. You were already injured and could have escaped in the time that they were attacking me."

"Neither did you have a reason to take a stand. Let's just conclude this by saying we each had the others back and that neither is in either's debt."

"I can accept that. Thank you, Potter. That means a lot to me."

"James, please."

"Then you would have to call me Lily"

"It would be my pleasure. If I may, I wanted to ask you something?"

"Ask away. I will decide if I want to answer it or not."

"Fair enough. You already know that the headmaster didn't take the issue seriously. How did Lord Black take it? Since my parents are muggles, they don't have the opportunity to react to it. If they could, they would have been pissed off and made sure justice was given to the affected parties."

"I can answer that. It's sad that your life was in danger and your parents wouldn't even know about it. As for Lord Black, he was furious. He called in a family meeting, and by the end of the day, I was no longer betrothed to Snape. His family had to give the House of Black three favors, to be used at the discretion of the Lord Black. Lets just say, people would have to think twice before trying anything stupid again."

"Thats nice to hear. And glad that there are people who believe in justice in the magical world."

"You shouldn't judge us outright, you know. Yes, we are bigoted, we are traditionalists, we stick to beliefs which might sound outlandish to muggle-borns. But the crux of the matter is the same in both worlds. We strive for family and what is ours. The way we deal with it is different, but the end goal is the same. Don't you think so?"

"When you put it that way, it does make sense. I sometimes don't understand all this ideology surrounding pure-bloodism and preservation of bloodlines."

"Please, don't tell me. It was a similar ideology which caused a war in the muggle world, because a supposed leader of a province thought of himself as better than others. Self-preservations and Self-Propagation is something that is common to both worlds. We are not that different. The only difference is the magical community is small enough magnify the smallest of issues. I don't mean to say that the issue is small. But such things usually stay hidden in the muggle world until they are blown out of proportion."

"For a pureblood princess, you seem to know a lot about the muggle world. I can't say the same about the magical world though."

"It's because I have taken Muggle studies as an elective. Now that I think of it, there used to be a course which instructed muggler-borns about the magical world. I wonder why they took it off."

"That would have been really helpful. I would have learnt from Sirius. But I am sure, he sleeps during his training sessions."

"He knows them alright. Aunt Cassie would skin him alive if he didn't. Its just that he doesn't follow them. It will come to bite him one day, mark my words."

"Can I ask you another question? A request, actually."

"Sure."

"Could you teach me more about the magical world. I have already been here for 5 years and I don't want my knowledge to be lacking when I go looking for a job."

"Hmmm. I will have to think about it. There are a lot of things to consider. We hardly know each other. You are a Gryffindor, I am a Slytherin. Planning such events would be tough with NEWTs curriculum next year."

"True. You have all summer to think. For now, you can even suggest some books so that I can self-study."

"That I can do. Though I am surprised you didn't ask this to Siri before."

"Let's just say that my conversations with Padfoot are more on the lines of world dominance than on mere cultures."

"As if 2 teenagers would have the brain and brawn to conquer the world."

"If young Arthur had it in him to rule Avalon and make it the heaven that it was, then anything is possible."

"I am not continuing this discussion."

"As you wish, my lady."

"It's already late and I still need to pack my bags for the trip back home. I should be leaving."

"Then I won't hold you back anymore."

"Have a great holiday. And as for magical customs and traditions, I would start with "A Wizarding Genealogy". It has information on bloodline and their importance in wizarding culture."

"I will pick it up from Flourish and Blotts tomorrow. Thank you! Have a great holiday."

"And if you feel like you have some questions, owl me. I will try my level best to answer."

"It was nice talking to you Lily."

"It was for me as well, James. See you!"

Lily found it extremely easy to keep up a conversation with Potter ('James' she thought inwardly). Maybe because, personality wise he was very similar to Sirius. But Sirius had the emotional range of a teaspoon. Potter seemed to be more mature for his age.

She had entered the Great Hall by then. The conversation wasn't intellectual by any means. But Lily couldn't stop revisiting the conversation throughout dinner. She missed the announcements by the headmaster, awarding of the house cup (Ravenclaw) and Quidditch Cup (Gryffindor). Maybe she just needed somebody to speak openly with. She would explore this feeling more. Potter was alright. She smiled to herself and proceeded towards her dorm at the end of the feast.

A.N.: I will be exploring Lily and James' relationship a bit more. The plot I am building requires it. I plan on building some more characters. We haven't yet touched on so many important characters. I expect the parents' saga to continue until Chapter 10 at least. Then it will be Harry and his sister's adventures. Please bear with me and hang on for the ride.