Lily and Remus were standing in the hallway, right outside the bedroom where Severus was falling into a well-deserved rest. Neither of them seemed too knowledgeable on how to start a conversation between two old friends that hadn't seen each other in what seemed like ages because of all that horror that happened during that time.

"So…"

"Let's go downstairs and… er… H-have some of that shepherd's pie together. I'd love to catch up with you."

Lily gave Remus a grateful look and followed him downstairs.

Remus, now that she couldn't see his face because she was walking behind his back, wore an expression of deep concern. Over the few months during which he had no news about Lily, she apparently lost some weight and some colour vanished from her face, as well. In the midst of all that worrying, a dark thought entered his mind - What if Severus isn't being too nice to Lily?

But then he quickly banished that thought and hypothetically slapped himself.

Her family is dead and her best friend, or whatever she calls him now, has just nearly been driven insane with Cruciatus. Those are good reasons to look a little unwell, don't you think? - he yelled at himself.

He got seated opposite Lily in Molly's kitchen, careful not to stare too much. She gave him a small smile and shoveled a spoonful of pie in her mouth with quite a gusto. After a few more spoonfuls, she stopped and looked at him.

"Won't you eat some?"

He jerked a bit and chuckled in uneasiness. In all that worrying, he had apparently forgotten to eat the pie at all.

"Sorry," he said and quickly started eating.

Lily chuckled at the apology. Then, as if just to ask about the weather, she turned to him with a nonchalant smile.

"So, Moony… How have you been?"

Remus shrugged. "Uh… Not too bad."

He obviously didn't want to run into any necessity for details. And so, he turned to her. "And you?"

Lily blinked a few times and then returned the shrug. "Uh… Not too bad," she repeated after him with a mischievous giggle. She was glad to see that it worked - Remus giggled, too.

When the giggles wore off, both pairs of their eyes dropped to the floor with a sigh.

"Actually, it's been pretty bad," she mumbled.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Me too. Two of my friends dead and the third one in Azkaban… This has surely been the worst year of my life."

Lily took a sip from her large mug of tea.

"The same goes for me," she said quietly and clasped the mug tight in her hands, looking nowhere in particular.

Remus now looked absolutely miserable. With a broken voice, he groaned: "I never thought that Sirius would… You know…"

"I know, Moony. I know," she interrupted him quickly. The thoughts in her mind were spinning with a blinding speed...

Sirius Black murdered Peter. Padfoot murdered Wormtail. He is a murderer. He is in Azkaban. What world am I in? What crazy universe is this?

Remus noticed Lily suddenly staring into the pie with her eyes wide, distant and completely lost in her head. Her eyes were slowly welling with tears. He decided to distract her with a simple, unrelated question that he hoped would yank her out of the dark spiral of thoughts.

"So...You and Severus, huh?"

It worked. Lily's face instantly filled with the colour red. She nodded with a tiny smile and that mischievous glint in her eye that Remus was looking for.

"Yes," she whispered. "Me and Severus."

"Is he treating you right?"

"What do you mean?"

Remus hesitated under her sharp green gaze. "Well… He's not exactly… Well… Kind, is he?"

Lily sighed. "I know, Moony, that Severus is not exactly the kindest person on Earth… And I know you're concerned. But he's not a monster."

"Good. Glad to hear that. I was just wondering," Remus mumbled quickly and not in a very convincing way.

To his surprise, Lily stretched one of her arms out over the table and leaned forward to pat his shoulder, saying: "You're a good friend, Moony."

"You too, Lils. And now, you are the closest thing to the Marauders I'll ever have."

Lily nodded sadly. But then, her face lit up again.

"What is it?" he asked her.

Lily chuckled at her thought and then decided to share it with Remus:

"We should form the New Marauders at New Hogwarts when we get there."

Remus chuckled, too, but the worried look in his face was far from gone.

"Yeah," he nodded, "and we should include Severus, as well. Do it right this time."

"Yeah."

"He obviously… Uh… He is on our side, right? He stopped with the dark magic nonsense, didn't he?"

Lily shrugged. "Well… Obviously…"

"You're not sure? Lily, this is serious. I need to know if I can trust him at all."

Lily fired his reproachful glare back at him with a sharp response. "Dumbledore trusts him and so do I. Is that not enough for you?"

"It… It is. Sorry, Lils."

Remus slumped his shoulders and so did Lily, almost in unison. Then, she told him softly:

"I understand it. I do. A few months back, even I wasn't sure if I could trust him."

"And what convinced you?"

Lily shrugged again and picked at her pie. "His love," she whispered.

Before Remus had a chance to say anything else, she stood up to make more tea.