Hey all... This chapter contains a *bit* of the bad stuff, but there's no detail or anything, just emotions. Emotions and dialogue. Have fun and please feel free to review, tell me how much you hate James or my idea (my idea people, this isn't true, this isn't how JK Rowling planned it, so don't freak out and go "JAMES WOULD NEVER DO THAT!!!". It's my plot, I can do whatever I want). Besides that, 'flames' as all you pretty people call them are welcome.
Lana
Lily lay awake that night, thinking about her conversation with Severus. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right; she had to at least try to stand up to James. It wasn't that he was bad; he was one of the most caring people she had ever met. Part of the problem was his friends, especially Sirius, who egged him on and called him a "sissy" if Lily even remotely tried to stand up to him. That, of course, led to more bruises. He never did it in front of everyone, only in his or her dormitories when no one else was there, and he always felt bad about it. He always tried to make it up to her, even if he had to miss practice or a class. He loved her; she knew that, he just didn't know how to show it.
Severus Snape had always been the enemy. She was never allowed to talk to him, as that would have been a serious blow to her reputation and status. James never would have allowed the conversation that took place between them tonight to happen, never. He would have died rather than have his girlfriend talk to whom he considered the scum off the walls in Azkaban.
She sighed and rolled over just as the door to the dormitory opened. Thinking it was one of her room mates, Lily didn't give it any thought, until her curtains were pulled back, revealing James.
"Holy… James? What are you doing here?" Lily hugged her velvet blanket around her chest.
He sat down beside her, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb. "I know about your little escapade with Snape."
Lily froze. "James… I- I-…"
James raised his hand up, as to silence her. "Say no more, I understand." He slowly leaned down, so his face was directly above hers. "And I think you're brilliant for doing so."
"B-B-Brilliant?" Lily stuttered, not having any idea of what he was talking about.
"You seducing Snape? It's better than I could have ever come up with. That little Death Eater won't know what hit him… Make him fall in love with you, Lily. Make him want to die for you."
Lily was now thoroughly confused. "Why though?"
James looked surprised, "You should know, of course. Make him love you more than he's ever loved anyone in the world; I know you can. Then, as the year progresses, break his heart. Break his heart as hard as you can, because I know you can."
Lily shook her head, not believing what she was hearing. "What are the conditions? His – slimy hands, touching me? Your girlfriend? What's the catch?"
James smirked. "What ever you do, don't let him f-ck you. That's my job and my job alone."
Lily nodded numbly. "Ok, will you tell me when to dump him?"
James smiled and kissed her, "Of course. And if he starts to give you hell, tell me and I'll make sure he never lays a hand on you again."
How ironic, thought Lily, You can abuse me, hit me, use me all you want, but you won't let anyone else touch me. How perfectly ironic.
"What about our relationship?" Lily asked, attempting to ignore James' roaming hands.
"We'll stage a breakup – a big one – in the Great Hall tomorrow, at breakfast. Cry, cry hard, and I'll do the rest." Lily started to ask another question, anything to keep his mind off of his 'prize', but he silenced her with another kiss.
The next morning, much to Lily's dismal, came much too quickly. Waking up with James beside her was turning out to be more than she could handle. Feeling as dirty as she ever had, she got out of bed quickly and turned on a shower to scalding. Unaware of the effects the hot water was having on her skin, she took a bar of soap and scrubbed as hard as she could. After a moment or two, she was aware of someone else coming into the 6th year's bathroom. Silently praying it wasn't whom she thought it was, she turned the temperature of the water down to a reasonable level and set the bar of soap down on the edge of the porcelain tub. Moments afterward, James peaked his head through the curtain, smiling at the sight.
"James!" Lily scolded, jumping a little. "I could have been anyone!"
James laughed as he took off his robe and stepped into the shower. An admiring look glazed over his face as his eyes scanned her body, still pink from where the water had hit her and where she had scrubbed so hard skin was starting to come off.
"You're beautiful, you know that?" James wrapped his now wet arms around Lily and kissed her forehead.
Lily couldn't respond; she merely shook her head and forced herself to kiss James back.
What's wrong with me? Twenty-Four hours ago, this was my life; this is what I looked forward to each day.
Ahh, yes, but that was before you knew of any other kind of affection. A tiny voice in the back of her mind responded.
Why, of all times… Lily audibly sighed, busying herself with James once more.
As soon as the two finished, Lily changed into her school robes and accompanied James down to the Great Hall, where around two hundred students were sitting, enjoying their breakfast. With a feeling of anticipation, Lily talked with James as quietly as she could, in fear of someone overhearing her. James nodded, signaling he was ready to 'break up'. Lily nodded back, giving him a small smile before standing up in unison with him. Throwing up his hands in mocked frustration, James started.
"Lily, how could you! Sneaking behind my back with that- that DEATH EATER!" James yelled as loud as he could. Quickly, the rest of the population ceased to make any noise, as to hear the Perfect Couple's feud.
"If you had just tried a little bit harder, James… That was all I was asking for!" Lily yelled back as loud as she could. Very few people had ever heard her yell, including James. This stunned him more than anything, but he quickly recovered.
"What didn't I give you? There was nothing that could have been improved upon, Lily, NOTHING. If you'd rather have your fun with SERVERUS SNAPE, of all people, then don't let me stop you. Go ahead, Lily Evans, have your fun."
Lily forced a few tears to fall down her face as she started pacing around her chair.
"If you hadn't been so arrogant, so idiotic, so ABUSIVE to me and my feelings, then this would have never happened, James. For once, just try to take in other's feelings for account, then you might be able to have someone love you. Just STOP being an arrogant, self centered asshole and I then I'll come back. But I guess I have nothing to worry about, do I James? Because you're NEVER going to change!" With these final words, he flashed her an approving look and then both of them stormed off in different directions. She heard Sirius and Peter try to go after him, but it took her a few moments to realize there were two sets of footsteps following her.
Turning into the prefect's bathroom quickly, she slammed the painting behind her and sat underneath the mermaid, who was now awake and laughing at her teary face.
Moments later, she heard the painting creak open and two voices holding a quiet but fierce argument.
"Dammit Snape, you caused this, leave."
"No, I didn't do anything, and I need to see if she's all right, Remus."
Finally, after a minute of debate, both of the two boys came into the bathroom, both looking quiet flushed.
"How did you two get in here?" Lily didn't dare meet Remus' or Severus' eyes, in fear that she would burst out laughing.
"The Marauders are all knowing." Remus forced a smile as he sat down on one side of Lily. Severus hung back, and it wasn't until Lily invited him to sit down that he dared to make a move.
"So… Is it true?" Remus asked, his eyes glancing from Lily to Severus back to Lily.
Lily nodded meekly, giving Severus a "Don't say a word" look. She turned her attention back to Remus, whose mouth was now hanging open.
"You and… Him? Wow. This didn't have anything to do with James hitting you, did it?" Remus asked quietly.
Lily nodded, "He was the perfect boyfriend, except for that tiny fact."
Severus smirked. "The bastard lost the best thing he'll ever have in his life; he deserved it."
Remus, while silently agreeing with Severus, didn't say a word.
"Sorry… I know you two are friends."
"Were friends. Were." Remus corrected him, thinking of all the good hexes he was going to put on James whenever he saw him.
"Remus… Don't let this get in the way of your friendship. I know how important they are to you." Lily silently acknowledged the fact he was a werewolf, and the Marauders were his closest friends.
"I'm still going to give him hell for what he did to you." Remus said, gripping Lily's hand. "I promise, I'll try to… You know… next time."
Lily nodded, smiling a bit. "Thanks Remus; thanks a whole lot. I really appreciate it… But could you leave Severus and I alone for a bit? We'll be right out, I promise."
Remus glanced towards Severus, then nodded. "Fine, but if you're in here for more than 15 minutes, I'm coming in." He quickly and silently departed, closing the painting as he made his way out.
Severus leaned against the wall, his eyes closed. He finally opened them and looked at Lily.
"God, I'm so, so sorry… If I had known… I would have never…" Severus shook his head in apology.
"It's not your fault, that was only the needle that broke the camel's back. There was so much more, don't blame yourself. Besides, I'm glad it's over with. The bruises I have now will heal in a few days, and then I'll never have to experience anything like that again."
Lily surprised herself at how truthful she was sounding; how truthful she felt. Unable to tear her eyes away from Severus', she slowly drew closer and closer, until their lips were connected.
For a moment, Lily expected him to back away; once he didn't, she tried to but also couldn't. His hands, at first very unsure and unsteady, quickly became accustomed to the back of her neck, and soon her arms. Although Severus was in fact older than her by a few months, up until that moment she saw him as a child. Now, however, she saw him as her equal, not as her superior as she had seen James.
She had no idea how long their kiss lasted, but when it ended, she was breathing hard and silently begging for more.
"Lily, I…" Severus started, and then seemed to change his mind. "This is wrong."
Lily shook her head, "No, no, no. This is anything but wrong, Severus. Please, just trust me on this."
"Lily, you just broke up with James. I don't want to be the rebound guy, ok? Lily, just listen to-" Before Severus could finish his sentence, Lily's lips were upon his once more. Melting in to the kiss, he pressed up against her, not wanting to ever stop.
Minutes went by faster than time was ever intended to go. Soon afterwards, Remus was making his way back into the bathroom. He was so shocked by the scene that lay before him that his cheeks turned scarlet.
"Lily… You… Oh God, you two. Get up, get up! Lily, you just broke up with James, give yourself some time to heal before jumping all over poor Snape here." Remus chuckled at the display in front of him now, two teenagers looking like a deer caught in headlights.
"Remus, he's the reason I broke up with James. I don't feel any remorse for James, none at all, so just let this happen, ok?" Lily asked, mentally pleading with Remus to let the two be.
Remus looked the two over for a minute, then nodded slowly. "Just don't do anything you'll regret later, Lil. And Severus – You lay one hand on her where she doesn't want it, I'll kill you."
With those final comments, he left the room, silently
wondering if he had made the right decision.