Lana
Severus and Lily walked down to the Great Hall hand-in-hand, expecting to see the four House tables, however they were pleased to find that a table set for twenty was standing in the middle of the Hall, with the four Marauders and a few teachers seated already. A fifth year Hufflepuff and a third year Ravenclaw were seated on the opposite side of the Marauders. Professor Dumbledore was seated in the middle of the table with two seats to his right empty. Once he saw Lily and Severus, he motioned for them to join him. Taking her spot next to Dumbledore, Lily sat down, her hand still intertwined with Severus'.
"Merry Christmas to you both!" Professor Dumbledore exclaimed, a goofy grin spread across his face. "I trust you both slept well?"
Lily kissed him on the cheek and nodded. "Yes Papa."
James shot a startled glance over towards Lily. She realized her mistake and avoided his eyes. Instead, she turned towards Severus, looking for permission to announce their engagement. He nodded, and she turned back around to her grandfather.
"Papa, look." She held out her left hand and showed him her ring. Dumbledore's smile grew wider and looked over at Severus.
"Congratulations to both of you… Congratulations." He looked up at the rest of the table, then stood up.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it is a very Merry Christmas indeed. I hope you all are enjoying your day, and I would like to make an announcement." He smile down upon Lily and Severus, then continued. "My granddaughter, Lily Evans, and Severus Snape are getting married!"
The table was silent from shock for a moment, then a wild burst of applause and congratulations emerged. Lily glanced at James for a moment to see his brown eyes full of hurt. He stood up and walked out of the Great Hall without saying a word, with his friends and Lily being the only ones that noticed.
Lily was torn between following him and staying, and after a moment's battle, she smiled at everyone and excused herself, then trotted after James.
She caught up to him a minute later, "James… What's wrong?"
James turned around the face her, trying to hide his red rimmed eyes. "Jesus Christ, Lily… If you don't know what's wrong by now, then you must be stupider than a troll."
Lily sighed, "Please tell me you're not still mad about the fact we're only friends?"
James scoffed, "Yeah Lily, you're marrying that lousy git, you almost had his baby, and you never told me you're related to Dumbledore… and I'm mad about us being friends."
"I love Severus, and if you can't handle that, then why the hell even look at us?"
"Because…" James clenched his fists, "because I still love you Lily, damnit. Can't you understand that?"
Lily sighed, "I understand that perfectly… You have to get over me, James. You're too used to being the top of everything, and for once your enemy got the one thing you wanted."
"I SAVED HIS F-CKING LIFE!" James exclaimed, hitting the cold stonewall. "This is how he repays me… I could have let him see Remus; I could have let the werewolf tear him apart, limb from limb, but no. I warned him… I told him not to go. Next year, he gets I>my/I> girlfriend pregnant and wants to marry her."
"I'm not your girlfriend anymore, James." Lily said softly, looking down at her feet.
"Do you have any idea how much I regret what I did to you? Do you have any idea what so ever? I go to sleep at night praying for a chance to turn back time, hoping that maybe Severus would make one wrong move and you'd dump him… Do you know how much I wish that I were the one giving you that ring? I would have, Lil, I was planning to, until he ruined it all."
Lily shook her head, "It's not his fault he loves me… It's my fault. Blame me, just don't blame him. He didn't do anything wrong."
James sighed, leaning back on the wall. "I miss you Lil… Promise me if anything happens with Severus, you'll come back to me."
Lily considered this for a moment, then nodded. "I promise… as long as you act human, I promise."
James looked up at her, then wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his robes. "I guess you'd better go back there."
Lily looked over her shoulder at the entrance of the Great Hall. "And I suppose Remus and Sirius are wondering where you went."
James stood up and started walking down the corridor, "Coming?"
Lily followed him, watching the back of his heels peak out from below his robes. The two entered the Hall separately, James walking to his seat next to Sirius and Lily walking to hers between her grandfather and Severus. Severus took her hand in his own and squeezed it softly, then leaned over to whisper something to her.
"He didn't do anything, did he?"
Lily shook her head, smiling at him with reassurance.
She knew right then and there Severus was the one she wanted to be with,
not James. She kissed Severus quickly, once again avoiding James' stare.