"Leave me alone, Severus." She said dryly, trying her best to not look at the boy in the eye.

It had been two months since the incident. Almost everyday afterwards, Lily found herself running from Snape's begs of forgiveness. She was never going to forgive him, and even less: forgive herself for thinking she could change him. She had been told plenty times that Severus had called other muggle-borns that word, and if not him, then his gross friends would do it. She felt sick just remembering how she did nothing. Well to be fair, she had tried but it was clearly in vane. He was long gone that nasty intolerant road.

"Lily, you know I'm deeply sorry… it just… slipped out" Severus reasoned, causing Lily to roll her eyes in annoyance, she kept moving from side to side, trying to avoid Snape, but he kept doing the same, cornering her into forgiveness. "Come on, are you going to run off and join those gits?"

Lily immediately knew who he had meant.

"It's none of your business, Severus, I'm just trying to walk to my destination without your constant harassment. Is that so hard to understand?"

"You can't truly think they are any better." The boy continued, insistent on not letting the thought go.

"They didn't call me what you called me, or did they?" She snapped, the boy looked surprised for a second

"It's not like they are any good either. They only defended you because Potter has it bad for you" At this comment, Lily decided it was more than enough, he clearly wanted a fight, so why not give it to the boy and let him know what she thought.

"As a matter of fact, it wasn't because Potter has it 'bad for me', it was because they knew it was cruel of you to call me that" she spat "Specially when I was trying to help you! I've seen them, you know? I've seen them defend second years from you and your friends. And unless Potter has it 'bad' for a second year as well, I'm pretty sure they did it out of good intentions"

"You can't truly believe that" Snape muttered, stubborn as one can be.

"I saw it with my own eyes, Severus! Are you calling me a liar now too?!" She was yelling now, it felt good to let it out. Until he grabbed her by both her arms rather forcefully.

"You know I didn't mean what I said the other day! You are just trying to make me suffer!" He raised his voice as well, making Lily small. Of course he is making himself the victim, she thought. She wanted to run from him, while he wouldn't expect it, but she knew better and held her ground, glaring at the greasy-haired boy. Before she could open her mouth to shout back, an arm slid around her shoulders. It was warm, unlike Snape's hands, it was relaxed on her. Without even turning around, she instantly knew whose it was.

"Need any help, Evans?" Said James, cooly, looking at Snape from head to toe. The other three marauders all surrounded Lily. Severus let go of her arms, knowing he wouldn't win a battle against five - the marauders and lily - and glared at James. Lily still kept looking forward, right at Snape.

"I don't need help, thank you, Potter" Lily said, a little ruder than intended, but of course, James didn't mind. He never did.

"Well of course you don't. Still, would you mind if we drag you from what looks like a very pleasant conversation?" he joked. He was looking at Snape straight in the eye, but talking as if he weren't there.

"I wouldn't mind at all, boys, the conversation was over long ago anyway" She threw one last nasty look at Severus and let herself be leaded by the four boys who were with her, James's arm still on her shoulders.

Her relationship with the marauders got better since the incident. Of course by the first week she refused to even speak to Remus but by the second week, she figured it'd better to be on good terms since Mary and Marlene hung out with them so often. She let her guard down a little bit, contradicting everything Severus had told her, and realized they were genuinely not-so-bad people, even Potter. Specially Potter.

"Greasy prat that Snivellus" Sirius muttered under his breath. "What was he talking to you about anyway?"

"He was asking me to forgive him" Lily said, she caught James rolling his eyes

"Now why would you do that? Besides, doesn't he ask you for that on a daily basis? He should take the hint" James's tone of annoyance was new to Lily, he was normally very calm

"It's not even a hint anymore, Prongs" Remus said "By now it's like every painting at Hogwarts yelled at the same time 'don't talk to Evans' and he's deaf" Sirius's lit up after processing to Remus's obvious exaggeration, he, unlike Lily, immediately read his mind. "We are not doing that as a prank."

"It would be hysterical though" Peter commented "Imagine Sniv..." He flashed a nervous glance at Lily "Er… I mean… Snape's face when he can only hear that around the castle"

"He would probably remain hiding until it gets fixed" Remus reasoned

"One Snivellus-free day, Moony! Now isn't that the perfectly peaceful day we've all wanted since we got to Hogwarts?" Sirius said, they all laughed at the comment, except for Remus, who just rolled his eyes at Sirius

"Where were you headed to anyway, Evans? Before being rudely interrupted by that git?" James asked, letting his arm slide off Lily's shoulders and turning to her, stopping in his tracks.

"Oh, I was going to the library but I'm afraid that if I go now, Severus will be waiting there for me already." She explained, all the boys looked at each other and nodded. How did they read each other so well?

"No problem, love, we'll be your escorts" Sirius said linking arms with Lily and leading her to her predetermined destination.

Even with the marauder's company, she didn't feel at ease. Maybe this time she would get away with it but she couldn't be escorted by the four boys (or Mary and Marlene) at all times, there was going to be a moment where she just had to confront Severus. She kept reading the same page of her book over and over, not truly knowing what it said because she couldn't concentrate at all. She was able to confront Severus whenever she liked, but she still felt attached. She hated that fact.

After a while in the library, Peter and Sirius got very fidgety, their patience starting to decay. Peter said was going to the quidditch pitch and see the Ravenclaws training, and Sirius said he had to go check something in the dorm and walked off. Lily felt guilty for their obvious boredom of keeping her company. After a couple of minutes, Remus left as well, saying he wanted to walk around the castle and nothing more. He had become remarkably moody the last few months, she wondered what might have happened.

The three boys' absence left her with only one escort, James Potter. She was curious to know if this was on purpose or pure coincidence, either way, it would repel Severus from showing up so she didn't ask. Suddenly, she noticed that James's eyes had been on her for a while now, probably since they sat down, she met his eyes with a questioning look.

"You haven't passed that page since we got here" He noted, he was right, she hadn't.

"Just a little distracted, that's all" Lily explained and went back to her 'reading'

"I think you are distracted from the reading, yes, but very focused on whatever you are thinking about" He said, Lily looked up at him. He had that knowing look that would have usually annoyed her but now it was just… there. "You okay, Evans?"

Lily hesitated, she was going to lie and say 'yes, I'm fine' but for some reason, she didn't.

"I don't know" James remained silent to let her keep talking, so she did. "Severus has been my best friend for so long now and… I knew that he had done, or said, the same to other muggle-borns but I thought that as long he didn't do it to me there was still a chance I could change his ways, you know?" James nodded.

"I know, but now you know better, don't you?" He gave her a soft smile, that for some reason made her look away.

"Yeah well… it's just… " She paused, calculating her words "I would look at Sirius and question… how did you possibly do it?" James's smile faded into a light frown, in sign of confusion

"Do… what?"

"Oh you know…" She glanced at James, who clearly did not know "changed his views on… well everything really"

"We didn't have to change his views, he knew what was right from the start" James said firmly, with a light look of pride in his eyes

"Oh… well I just supposed since there are always so many rumors surrounding… his heritage" James raised his eyebrow in curiosity, and Lily, not realizing she was on dangerous ground, continued. "You must know them! Like he was disowned and he did it on purpose because—"

"He what?!" James looked furious "You think that everything that has happened to him was on purpose?!"

"Oh come on, James, you don't think he could just calm down in the rebelliousness for once? Actually try to get his family to be reasonable."

"Evans, you should know better than anyone that people like that don't have a reasonable bone in their body" Lily, opened her mouth to retort but James kept talking "Specially after what happened to him this year, after what they did!" He ruffled his hair, clearly exasperated. "I can't believe you, of all people, actually thinks those rumors are true!"

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Lily looked at him in disbelief, she had never seen James angry, specially this angry "James, you know he could be a little more decent with everything and make his life a little easier"

"Well it isn't that simple, but you wouldn't know or would you, Evans?!" James spat, he started standing up and gathering his things, if they raised their voices a tiny bit more Madam Pince would kick them out. "You would not know because you don't even bother to listening to an actual source but your dear Snivellus, and look where that landed you!" He glared at her, he had never done it until now. Lily wanted to say that it wasn't true but it was. All the information she got was from Severus, which now that she thinks about it, is a very unviable source. "Well, fine!" He stomped out of the library.

Lily sat there, feeling confused and hurt. Not only because of what he said but because she had never expected that from James. He was always patient, with her at least, but she supposed she hit a nerve talking about Sirius.

The three marauders were sitting in the common room. Remus was reading a book, while Sirius, much to Peter's enjoyment, decided to play some chess with Peter. It was peaceful until James stormed in, clearly angry. They turned around startled, it was uncommon to see James at this state. They all knew that James was never one to know how to to handle anger. He looked at his three best friends for a second, and kept walking to the dorm.

"So, you come from paradise-land with Evans?" Sirius joked, trying to comprehend what had happened, in response, James snorted.

"Anything but paradise. Bloody nightmare. Can't believe I ever fancied her" The three marauders were left stunned as they saw their best friend stomp his way to the dorm.

"Fancied?" Remus noted. The other two looked at him, just as confused.

Lily entered right at that second, being surprised by the three questioning looks welcoming her. "Hiya" she said awkwardly and quickly walked to a corner of the common room, opening the book she had been reading at the library. Peter and Sirius looked at Remus, basically telling him what to do, he understood and made his way to Lily.

"Er… Lily?" He said sitting beside her "What happened?"

"With what?" Lily asked, playing stupid but knowing very well what Remus meant. He just looked at her, and she conceded. "We fought, that's all."

"You fought with James? But that's basically impossible…" Remus joked, making Lily's guilty feeling rise. "What about?"

"I just told him about… a few rumors… regarding Sirius" Remus's eyes widened, he clearly did not expect that.

"Well that clearly did it" He sat back now putting two-and-two together. "Was it out of spite or—"

"What? No!" Was it really that obvious that talking to James about that was clearly a bad idea? "I would never do that out of spite, I didn't know, that's all" Remus nodded and left Lily to keep reading. He walked over to Peter and whispered in his ear (Lily knew exactly what he was saying, she supposed he didn't want Sirius to know since it involved him), ignoring Sirius obnoxiously leaning over to hear as well.

"Where's Potter?" Marlene asked as they sat at the Great Hall to eat their breakfast. There were three out of four of the marauders at the table. Mary, Marlene and Lily were now sitting with them

"He's in bed still" Sirius said, Mary and Marlene's eyes widened in surprise

"James Potter? Sleeping in on a Saturday? It must be a miracle!" Mary joked as she sat on Sirius's lap and gave him a quick kiss.

"Yeah well, he's in a bit of a mood since yesterday…" Remus explained, trying very hard to not look at Sirius and Mary together, Lily figured it was because of the mood he was in for some reason.

"Oh yeah? How so?" Marlene asked, also avoiding the sight of the couple sitting next to her.

"Er…" Sirius looked at Lily for a second, he wasn't angry at her at least (but James was), and then he looked at the doors of the Great Hall, as James walked through them "Speak of the devil!"

"Morning, everyone" James said dryly as he sat down, immediately getting a toast in his mouth.

The two girls looked at him with curiosity and the three boys with a more worried look. Everyone remained silent until he, as soon as he finished the toast, stood up and left. Lily felt bad, she didn't what she had said would have hurt him so much, or made him so angry on that note. She decided she had to something she wasn't a fan of: Say she's sorry.

"That was tense" Mary said to lighten the mood, but everyone simply nodded. Lily looked how James walked away feeling deadly guilty, so she decided to stand up and run after him, feeling everyone at the table look at her surprised as she left.

"James!" He heard but kept walking, they were now in the middle of an empty hallway. "James!" She got to grab his arm, getting him to stop.

"What?" He asked annoyed, the question more rhetorical than genuine, he kept evading her eyes

"I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have said that about Sirius, it was unfair." She spoke as she tried to catch his eye but he successfully didn't let her. "Look… you are right, I don't know what Sirius is going, or has gone, through and it's not fair to assume. I won't do it again, I'm sorry… just…" She paused "please don't be mad at me, it won't happen again and if anyone is getting mad in our friendship, it's going to be me from now on." Thankfully, James gave in and laughed at the comment.

"On what agreement, Evans?" He raised his eyebrow daring him, now he had a smug smile on his face. Lily was relieved. Thank God Potter isn't one to hold grudges.

"No agreement. This is a totalitarian decision" She folded her arms, displaying the same body language as James. "Besides, you have quite the capability of annoying me into anger"

"No winning that one, is there?" He said, acting as if a second ago he had not been angry, he put his around her and leaded the way. "Well, at least you have admitted that we are friends and not mortal enemies, as you'd like to believe"

"Piss off, Potter" She punched him playfully, fighting back a smile.

Mary and Sirius suddenly appeared in the hall, they were talking and stopped their tracks when they saw James and Lily laughing. "Well isn't this a surprise? Didn't you hate each other just a minute ago?" Sirius said, with a smirk on his face.

"Don't think I recall. Do you, Evans?" James said, calmly turning his face to get a good look at Lily, who was shaking her head.

"No idea what they are on about, Potter, I think they got confused" She joked as well, as they walked past them and walked off to… Lily had no idea where.

Apparently, they had no destination, and were just walking pleasantly around the school grounds. James had let go of Lily by now and they were just walking side by side, mocking each other back and forth.

"Er… Lily?" They had been laughing like mad and then, once they stopped, James's voice turned serious, turning to look at her in the eye.

"Yeah?" Lily replied, a worried look on her face.

"You know that I fancied you, right?" His face was now bright red, and Lily's too, He was looking at their feet.

"Er… well yeah… not very well hidden if you ask me" James laughed awkwardly. Where was he going with this?

"I just wanted to make it clear that I don't anymore… that's all" He gave her a small smile and went back to walking, Lily followed.

Why would he say that? Why did he feel the need to be so 'clear' about it? And most of all, why was she slightly disappointed? Lily figured it just felt nice, to have that sort of unconditional attention, but maybe it wasn't so nice after all, and rather selfish. Besides, it's not like she fancied him so who cares anyway. After a few minutes of an awkward silence, James broke it.

"That hard to know someone isn't madly in love with you for once?" He joked, Lily lightly punched him again and laughed.

"Piss off, Potter" she said with a smile plastered across both their faces

"Ran out of insults, I see?" James teased, she snorted in response

"Oh please, with you lot? that's an impossible achievement!" She noticed they were walking back to the common room. "It's honestly so easy for me to mock you I feel a little bad" she added, with an overly-acted pouty face.

"You can be so kind, Evans…"

"I know, I'm something else, aren't I?"

"Oh yeah? In a good or bad way?" Lily rolled her eyes but James knew for a fact she was enjoying every second of this.

"Thank God, Remus is a prefect and not you. Patrolling would be a nightmare." She lied before saying the password to the Fat Lady, who immediately let them in.

They were smiling like mad when they came in and found all of their friends staring at them, curious, except for Remus, who for some reason wasn't there, why wasn't he there? She would ask him when he came back.