Hello, Everybody!

So, as usual, I am absolutely tickled pink by the reviews and views from all of you. You guys are amazing!

I'm glad you all liked the last chapter. It was simultaneously fun, yet heartbreaking to write. I love writing someone as meticulous as Ponderosa, but the more I visualized Severus's great grandmother, the more I hated her. Despised her even. An absolutely fictional woman!

So...the kiss...

As expected, we're going to have to face this sort-of love triangle eventually.

Let's dive on in.

If Someone Cared Enough

Chapter Seventy-Eight: About What Could be Expected

The aftermath of Severus and Lily's kiss was, predictably, bad.

As soon as they had done it, they knew it was a mistake. Well, their feelings weren't, but their actions were. Hadn't Lily promised Mary only that very morning that she would not pursue Sev without at least telling Mary first? Hadn't they all agreed that such an emotional time in Severus's family life was not the ideal time for any of them to be thinking about relationships?

Instead Lily let her selfish wants get the best of her, let the moment carry her away. She honestly felt like she'd taken advantage of Severus, though the latter would strongly swear he hadn't done anything he hadn't wanted to do.

Not feeling comfortable lying to a friend, the two of them had pulled Mary aside upon their return an hour or so after lunch. Mary took the news about as well as one could expect, that is to say that saying she was furious, hurt, and betrayed would be a grievous understatement. Considering that she had only just recently begun to fear she could lose Severus to Lily, finding out it quite literally just happened was not exactly an easy truth to swallow.

Lily would have to give her credit though, she did her best not to make a scene, even when Severus and Lily deliberately brought her somewhere secluded so that she could vent as loudly as she rightfully deserved. It probably helped that Severus was still red eyed and ashen from the troubling visit with Ponderosa. Instead, Mary had given the pair of them an equally nasty look and stormed off with little more than a 'how could you?' to say. She avoided them the rest of the day.

Yes, Lily would have to give her credit for maintaining composure.

Of course, she had no way of knowing she'd be taking those words back as soon as she'd walked through the portrait hole that evening after dinner.

It, of course, started with the not so helpful prodding of Jess and Mel. When Mary—who'd skipped dinner that night to sulk in the dorms—caught sight of Lily entering the common room, she'd clearly had all intentions of continuing her silent treatment, sending the redhead a frosty glare before heading to the stairs.

'Well,' Lily thought, 'At least I can avoid a fight for a little while longer…'

Unfortunately, Jessica and Meldonna were the nosiest, most gossip hungry girls to ever walk the earth and naturally pounced on the latest development in Lily and Mary's strained friendship.

"Why do you seem more upset than usual, Mary?" Jess pried.

"Yeah," Mel added, "You seemed a little miffed before but now you're down right seething."

It irked Lily how much Mel seemed to relish that little tidbit. What was with her and gossip?

"It's nothing," Mary said stiffly, "I'm just having a bad night."

"But it must be more than that," Jessica pushed, "The look you gave Lily was positively scathing."

Now that got everyone's attention. Suddenly the room was abuzz with excitement and curiosity. Just what could make two girls who were always so close suddenly be at odds with each other?

Lily wished her friends had the good grace to wait until they were behind closed doors of the dorms to interrogate Mary; this really wasn't something everyone needed to hear.

Lily couldn't help but notice that James in particular had seemed very interested in the sudden turn of events. Knowing Jess, she probably told him about Rowan Gowan, having no clue that Mary had only used the boy as a scapegoat for Severus.

There was no way James knew the fight was over Severus. Remus made sure Peter knew the condition to his continued friendship with the mousy boy was contingent on him not doing anything that would incline James to start picking on Severus again. Peter seemed reasonably fearful enough at the thought of losing Remus to agree.

So anything James thought he knew came from Jess, who frankly knew nothing. James probably believed Mary and Lily were still 'fighting' over the Ravenclaw.

Well, they were fighting over a boy…just not the one James thought.

"Ooh, this is about Rowan isn't it?" Mel asked suddenly, eyes lighting up.

Once that name slipped past Mel's lips, the common room gossip rose to a frenzy. Many girls fawned and admired the handsome, charismatic boy from the wisest House. His looks were notable to give even James and Sirius some concerns over their places as the heartthrobs of the school.

"Jess, let Mary be," Lily pleaded, "This isn't anyone's business."

Lily's insistence to keep things quieter was apparently taken by the two as confirmation.

"So something did happen," Jess said triumphantly.

"What'd she do, Mary?" Mel prodded, "Did she make a move?"

"You guys, leave it be," Lily demanded.

"We just want to know why you two are fighting," Jess stated, "Don't we deserve to know what's wrong with our friends?"

Lily scowled at here, "No you don't—"

It was at the height of the chattering crescendo that Mary's cool composure finally broke.

"I trusted you…" she hissed.

"I trusted you!" Mary repeated, turning on Lily.

"Mary," Lily pleaded, "I'm sorry."

Mary scoffed, "You're sorry? What good does that do me after the fact? You knew how I felt and you kissed him!"

"You kissed him?!" Jess shrieked excitedly.

"Jess, do the world a favor and shut the hell up for once in your life!" Lily snapped.

Several people in the room 'oohed', hushing only with Lily turned her icy stare on them.

Jess worked her mouth wordlessly in shock for several minutes.

"James can you believe she said that to me?" she said finally. Hearing no response, she turned sharply to her boyfriend, "James?"

James hardly heard her, staring at Lily in stunned silence.

"Don't take this out on Jess," Mary said sharply at Lily, "She's not the one being a bad friend here."

"With how she's egging us on?" Lily challenged, "I begged to differ. I'm not a bad friend, Mary. I didn't mean for this to happen."

"But it did," Mary snapped, "Even after I told you not to."

"What would you have me do, Mary," Lily asked in angry exasperation, "Hide my feelings for forever, just to make you happy?"

"If you were a real friend, you would have," Mary cried.

"What kind of friendship is that?" Lily criticized, "Even after you knew how much he meant to me, you still expected me to do nothing unless I asked you first; as if I need your permission to date someone who wants to be with me!"

"You stole him from me!" Mary accused, pointing a finger at Lily.

"You were never with him!" Lily shouted, getting sick of defending herself, "He saw you as a friend and you knew that; you were just hoping you could win him over."

Lily straightened up to her full height, "And for the record, he and I were already together before you went after him!"

Several gasps came up around the room.

In hindsight, Lily wished she'd listened to Sev when he suggested she feign sick in the hospital wing for the night so that he could bear the brunt of Mary's anger in her place in the morning.

Mary went red in the face, "Well how was I supposed to know? You two kept it a secret. Besides, you two clearly broke up by the time I told him my feelings."

"It wasn't a break-up," Lily denied, "If anything, it was only a break. He has enough on his plate right now; I didn't want him to worry about the fight."

"Well if he was with me, there wouldn't be any fights to worry about," Mary declared hotly.

"Every couple fights," Lily bit out angrily, "Just because you have a crush on him doesn't mean you're perfect for him."

Mary laughed hollowly, "I guess we'll never know now, will we? Because you had to swoop in and snatch him away, without any regard for my feelings."

"I've been doing nothing but putting your feelings first!" Lily yelled, "Mary, for months I've been watching you throw yourself at him, hang off him, cozy up to him, all the things I wanted to do but couldn't because I didn't want to hurt you. I've literally been putting my feelings on hold so that you could intervene in our relationship."

"You didn't have a relationship!" Mary hollered, descending the stairs, "Not after the fight. You belittled him, insulted him. He doesn't need someone who doesn't trust him."

Lily clenched her fists at her sides, "I've apologized to him for that. We all make mistakes, Mary. That doesn't mean two people can't be together because of it."

"You kissing him was the mistake!" Mary said in outrage, "You knew how I felt, you knew! And you went and did it anyway."

"And I came and told you the truth right after," Lily retorted, "I can't help how I feel, Mary."

Marlene chose that moment to intervene, "Lils, Mary, maybe we should take this upstairs…"

"What makes your feelings any more valid than mine?" Mary challenged Lily, "I care about him too."

"Yeah, well I love him!" Lily shouted, slapping a hand over her mouth as she realized what she said.

The room went deathly quiet, everyone frozen in gob smacked surprise. Even Marlene's eyes were wide as saucers.

Lily hadn't meant to say it, if only because up until that moment, she hadn't even realize just how deep her feelings for Sev went. She knew she was attracted to him, that she wanted to be with him. Heck, she knew she couldn't picture her world without him, but this was the first time she'd actually described it as real, honest to goodness love.

And the first time she admitted it was to a room full of gawking jerks instead of the boy she was in love with…wonderful…

Mary said nothing, just staring wide eyes at Lily, her lower lip trembling. Sucking in a deep breath, she straightened up, closing her eyes for a brief moment.

Giving Lily one last harsh glare, she turned and silently made her way back up the stairs, slamming the door to the dorms behind her.

"She's…uh…probably heading to my room," Marlene managed to get out, shrugging awkwardly. She patted Lily on the shoulder and gave her a weak smile, "I better go see how she's doing."

Marlene took the stairs two at a time, quite literally smacking Jess to the side when the girl made to follow her along with Meldonna.

All eyes were still on Lily, hushed muttering flitting about the room as she stood there in chagrined embarrassment. Lily looked around, seeking out a friend, an ally in her plight and was relieved to find Remus giving her an encouraging smile.

"Want to help me study for Potions, Lily?" Remus asked kindly.

A thankful smile overtaking her face, Lily nodded, "I'd be happy to."

The pair found a secluded corner of the common room, ignoring the stares and whispers until their housemates eventually grew bored at the lull in action and the gossip petered off. Peter at some point moseyed over from spending time with Sirius, wanting to spend more time with the former heir of Black, but knowing his potions scores were too dismal to miss out on a chance to be tutored by one of the best students in the subject.

As the fire faded to a glimmer in the fireplace and students trickled off to bed, Lily shot a forlorn glance to the girl's dorm, knowing that she'd be spending another night without her friend to talk to.

{page break}

"And she's been mad at me ever since," Lily finished her tale over breakfast the next morning.

"You mean madder than she was simply knowing you liked Severus," Simone pointed out, "You know…before you went and made out with him."

"Thank you for that unnecessary input, Serapeum," Severus said sardonically, "I can't say it was needed nor appreciated."

Simone gave a very exaggerated shrug, "Don't be snippy with me. I'm not the one who went snogging behind my friend's back."

"It was a kiss," Lily interjected tiredly, "One simple kiss. It's not like we did anything lewd."

"Was there tongue?" Simone asked, waggling her eyebrows.

Thea nearly spit up her juice when she choked.

Lily sighed, stirring her tea intermittently, "We know we shouldn't have done it. But things were…emotional. We got caught up in the moment."

Severus nodded, "You really can't fault us for having feelings for each other. It's not something we have control over."

"Yeah, but we still could have waited until we settled things with Mary before doing anything," Lily admitted sadly, "I never meant to hurt her. I was just hoping her crush would die down and she'd get over you, then we could pick up where we left off. No offense," she added, looking apologetically at Severus, "It's not that I don't believe she could have feelings for you…I just sort of figured her personality would eventually clash with yours."

Severus gave a grimace mixed with a smirk, "None taken."

"I guess I always thought I was the only one who liked your snarky personality," Lily confessed morosely, "It's what I saw so compatible about us. I never would have guessed Mary would also become smitten with you."

Simone took a sip of her tea, a thoughtful expression on her face, "We're still assuming this was real affection on her part and not just some damsel in distress thing."

Lily tilted her head, "How do you mean?"

"No offense, Evans, but you really are the only one who could possibly find this sourpuss," Simone pointed at Severus, "charming."

"Shouldn't that lack of offense be directed at me?" Severus questioned dryly.

Simone waved him away, "I don't care if I offend you. You've got a smug face; you're asking for it."

"Anyway," Simone continued, ignoring Severus's scowl, "Mary hardly even knew Severus before the end of your fifth year. She didn't have a strong opinion of him either way. Now, we know the type she prefer before she fell for Severus; flashy, conventionally handsome, roguish blokes. The whole 'Sirius Black' flare, you know?"

"Her and every other girl with bad taste in this school," Severus muttered.

"My point is," Simone said sternly, "Her previous preference is nothing like you. So why would she suddenly find you desirable when previously, you didn't match any of the traits she typically goes for?"

Severus stared at her blankly, "Am I supposed to know the answer to that?"

Simone groaned, dropping her head onto the table.

Thea, mercifully decided to take over, "You were practically a stranger to Mary before fifth year ended; a prickly stranger at that."

Severus frowned at her.

"He's not prickly," Lily defended poorly, "He's just…a more reserved sort of friendly…"

"Smooth," Simone teased with a smirk.

Thea pushed on, "Mary naturally gravitated towards boys who acted like typical guys, the manly, amorous Casanovas like Sirius or James. Then you sweep in and save her from something too terribly to think about."

"So?" Severus questioned.

"So," Thea said, "Don't you think after what she went through, the randy boys she was accustom to might make her…nervous."

"So you're saying I was a last resort," Severus said dourly.

"I'm saying you were safe," Thea corrected, "Severus, you burst in wand blazing and rescued her, cementing in her mind that such awful acts are the last thing you would ever do. But the other hormonal boys in school are an unknown to her. I doubted she thought Mulciber was capable of rape, even knowing how terrible he was. She feels unsure about other guys, has no clue what they're thinking or willing to do."

"The incident with Nesme didn't help," Simone interjected, "You saw how hard it was for people to take a love potion seriously. Some of the boys seemed to view it as an innocent way to have a one-night stand. Sirius was among them; Mary's former crush. I doubt Mary felt too confident about the morality of her male classmates after hearing that."

"To Mary, you were someone she could trust," Thea picked up, "You represented the type of guy who would never do anything to harm her. It's possible that somewhere along the way, she began to romanticize that."

"Hence, why she was crushing on someone with the emotional range of a teaspoon," Simone summed up with finality.

Severus glared at her, Simone made a kissy face in return.

"Look," Severus said, running a hand through his hair, "I like Mary. I really do. But I don't like her in that way."

"And you're not obligated to," Thea said simply, "Just as Mary had the right to choose to pursue you, you have the right to not be interested. You're mistake was not shutting her down firmly."

"I tried to," Severus said in exasperation, "She kept thinking she would change my mind."

Simone rolled her eyes, "That was when Mary thought no one else was vying for your affections. She probably assumed you'd go for her once you realized no one else was around."

"That's some…depressing low self-esteem," Severus said.

Simone ignored him, "What Thea's talking about is after it was out in the open that Lily wanted you back. You should have directly told Mary you wanted Lily, no ifs, ands, or buts. You never had an interest in Mary, so why the inaction once you realized Lily still wanted you?"

"Because Mary was pissed enough as it was," Severus snapped, "What was I supposed to do? Go up to her and say, 'Hey, now that you know the truth, mind if I go live happily ever after with your best friend?'"

"Probably still would have hurt her less," Thea stated.

"You know," Simone tacked on, "Provided you actually waited for her to start to get over you before you snogged your girlfriend."

"It was one, little kiss," Severus insisted.

"I feel awful," Lily said, slumping down on the table, "I never wanted to hurt Mary. She's one of the best friends I've ever had—next to you, Sev."

"I didn't want to hurt her either," Severus agreed with a remorseful sigh, "I'm not sorry you and I made up, but I never intended to make Mary think I didn't at least care about her feelings even if I didn't return them."

"Still, Mary shouldn't have assumed that having a crush on you meant she got dibs," Simone reasoned, "You did tell her that you didn't feel that way; she's the one who decided that meant she'd have to convince you to like her."

"But it isn't like she was trying to force me into anything," Severus pointed out, "She was just hoping spending some time with me would make me fonder of her. She was essentially just doing all the things we already did as friends…just with the hope it would become something more."

"Yeah, but with all the hand holding she initiated…" Simone reminded him.

"And hugging," Thea added.

"Listen," Severus sighed, "She may have been a little clingy, but it wasn't like I told her to knock it off. You all hug me and the like all the time; the only difference is that her actions had different context, romance versus friendship."

"I suppose we are a handsy bunch," Simone mused, fiddling with a strand of Thea's hair.

Lily snapped her fingers at them, "Can we all focus? What are we going to do?"

"Well for starters, I suggest you two laying low with your relationship for a while," Simone threw out, "Mary needs some time to work off some steam at you two, and I doubt it will be easier if she has to see you flaunting it in her face."

Thea nodded, "Let Mary get this anger out of her system. She may come to find she didn't like Severus so much as the idea of him."

"Make sure you both apologize too when you get the chance," Simone put forth, "I mean a real apology, one where you let Mary know you're aware that it wasn't fair to her to find out this way. She needs to know you're actually concerned about respecting her feelings. Sure, you can't return her affections, Snape, but you can let her know that you wanted to take her feelings into account."

"In time, hopefully the hurt will fade," Thea told them, "You both are important to her, I doubt she wants to throw all that away."

Simone leaned back in a stretch, "Meanwhile, I guess the rest of us will have to be the go between for you two and Mary. We've still got all the Diadem and Diary nonsense to figure out, so we can't afford to lose one of our numbers."

"Still no leads on who could have taken the diary?" Lily inquired.

Simone shook her head, "Myrtle hasn't seen anyone even attempt to enter the bathroom. Everyone that enters that hall seems to have no inclination to go near it; they don't even travel closer enough to activate the forgetfulness charms we put up. So who ever took it either doesn't know the bathroom holds the entrance, or they're steering clear because they know someone will be watching."

"Nesme and Davis have found nothing as well," Thea said.

"And Regulus hasn't seen anyone suspicious either," Severus admitted, "Well…more suspicious than usual for Slytherins."

"Speaking of the former, where are Nes and Davis?" Lily asked curiously.

Simone grinned, "Nesme dragged Davis to a breakfast with the Divination Professor. She's become obsessed with palm reading lately."

"Which critical, logical Davis wants nothing to do with," Severus summarized, "Poor bastard."

Simone laughed, "So where's Remus?"

Lily took a bite of her eggs before answering, "Marlene's spending time with Mary, so Remus is doing her a favor and looking for Peter. What with him splitting his time between three separate friends now, it's a lot harder to track him down. He goes missing for hours lately."

"Can't Lupin use the map?" Severus asked.

Lily shook her head, "James has it and apparently he's hidden it. The only way to get a hold of it would be to ask Peter to steal it, but Remus is too nice for that."

A commotion by the doors drew their attention to the Great Hall entrance. Storming in with a furious expression, a normally handsome faced young man in Ravenclaw colors was sporting a rather unflattering shade of puke green hair, inviting the laughter of many.

"Isn't that Rownan Gowan?" Thea asked, "I wonder what happened to him."

"Oh no," Lily groaned, slapping a hand to her head, "Mary's fib."

She looked over her shoulder towards the Gryffindor table. Lo and behold, James sat among his snickering classmates with a rather triumphant grin on his face.

"Okay, you may be right, Sev," Lily muttered, "Potter might still not be over me."

Severus smirked into his pumpkin juice, "I had no clue what's going on, but I can't say I hate hearing that I'm right…"

Okay, I only made Rowan up on the spot several weeks ago, but man do I feel bad for him right now! XD

So, I hope no one is that mad at Lily or Mary. They can't really help how they feel about this. Lily can't help but love Severus and technically Mary wasn't dating him. While it would be nice to warn Mary first of her intentions to re-pursue Severus, it's not really owed to Mary as Severus is his own person and Mary doesn't get a say on him wanting to be with Lily.

On the other hand, Mary does have a right to feel upset; no one is saying she doesn't have a right to her feelings. The trouble is, her feelings weren't reciprocated and she is going to need to learn that her intent to woo Severus doesn't make him off limits to others as she wasn't in a relationship with him. Still, she has the right to be upset that the person she wants doesn't feel the same way, and she's well within her right to be upset at the thought of watching her best friend get the chance to be with him.

Needless to say, feelings are complicated. Glad I'm asexual and aromantic.

Review please!