I know, I know *ducks all that's being pelted at her by angry, waiting readers* I've been so busy, and had a little lack of inspiration. But it's here now, and if it's any comfort; Chapter 13 is already well in progress.

Also, a BIG thank you to my new beta-reader, Isa! Give  her a round of applause people!

Chapter 12 – Follow your instincts

***

"Boomslang skin, powdered snaketeeth, tried mandrake leafs." Lily looked expectantly up at Severus, who motioned for her to keep going.

"Er, gillyweed… aspholdel?" He shook his head and Lily groaned.

"I'm gonna fail," she complained, throwing down the quill she had been toying with. It soared softly to the floor, and lay there for a second before Hercules jumped out from behind the sofa and attacked it, shredding it within seconds.

"You're not going to fail," Severus said calmly. "Just relax."

"How can I?" she objected. "The exams are two weeks away, Severus. Two weeks. And I don't know anything!"

"That's not true," he said. "You only missed on ingredient. Calm down."

He put the book away and joined her on the sofa, sliding his arm around her waist.

"You'll be fine," he whispered, kissing her. "You'll pas all your exams. Better yet, you'll probably get top marks. And you'll make Head Girl."

She smiled slightly, and he kissed her forehead.

"That's better," he whispered.

"What would I do without you?" she asked, snuggling up in his arms.

"You'd be in the Gryffindor common room with four boys to calm you down rather than just the one," he said.

"You mean I'd be calming them down," Lily smiled. "You should have heard Peter yesterday. I think he'd prefer camping out in the Forbidden Forrest to taking these exams."

"Well, he has reason to worry," Severus laughed, but stopped when he saw the look on Lily's face.

"Look, you'll be fine," he assured her again.

"He wouldn't fail me because of use, would he?" Lily asked suddenly.

"He can't," Severus said, though he sounded far from sure. "He wouldn't."

Lily didn't say anything, and they both sat in silence for a while.

"I want you to come visit this summer," Lily said finally, changing the subject. "Do you want to?"

"Of course," he smiled.

"Good," she said. "I can't wait to introduce you to my parents. And Petunia, of course."

"Your friend?"

"My sister," Lily said. "She hates me. She has ever since I started Hogwarts."

"Jealous?" Severus asked, but Lily shook her head.

"Terrified more like. Terrified that any of her posh friends should find out about her 'abnormal' sister." Lily attempted a laugh, but it came out more of a snort.

"She'll hate me too then?" Severus asked, and Lily nodded.

"With passion, no doubt. It'll be fun."

*

"Lily, where have you been all day?" Sirius cried, frantically waving his Charms book at her. "We're dying here."

Lily laughed.

"You should have thought of that seven months ago," she said.

"I don't need to think," Sirius grinned. "I've got you. Now, please explain Fusion charms to me before I throw this thing out the window." He waved the book dangerously.

"I'm surprised to see you all here," Lily said, flipping through Sirius' book. "Don't you have better things to do on a night like this? Full moon and all."

Sirius stopped grinning immediately, and from his chair in front of the fire Peter spluttered. Lily, realizing the moment she said it that she had said too much, cursed silently.

"Why would we have anywhere else to be on a night with a full moon," Sirius asked nervously, Fusion charms suddenly forgotten.

"No reason," Lily said quickly. "Never mind, I must be more tired than I think. I'll just head for bed. Good night, boys."

She got up to go to her dorm, but James grabbed her arm.

"Not so fast," he said. "Do you know something you're not supposed to?"

"That depends," Lily started, desperately trying to find some way of talking herself out of the situation.

"Lily," James said sternly.

"All right," Lily sighed. "Yes, I know the three of you are Animagi."

Peter spluttered again, dropping his book. James and Sirius just stared at her.

"How?" Sirius demanded.

"I saw you," Lily said. "You might wanna be a bit more careful with where you transform you know, being that you are illegal Animagi."

"Lily, you can't tell anyone," James said quickly.

"I'm not going to," Lily said calmly. "But really guys, I thought we were friends. You could have let me in on the fun."

"Fun is hardly the word," Sirius muttered. "Are you aware of how long it took us?"

"Well, your secret's safe with me," Lily assured him. "Who would I tell anyway?"

"Snape," Sirius said, and Lily laughed.

"Why on earth would I tell him?"

"I don't know," Sirius said. "You two've been getting awful friendly lately. How do we know he's not milking you for information?"

"Oh please, Sirius," Lily sighed. "Do you really think I'd do that? Besides, if that were the case I could have fed him enough by now to have you expelled five times over."

Sirius still looked suspicious.

"Aw, c'mon," Lily said. "I'm tutoring him, that's all. Don't you guys trust me?"

Nobody answered.

"Of course we trust you," James said finally, as the other two seemed to make no sign of talking.

"Thanks," Lily smiled. "Goodnight boys."

Sirius waited until he heard the door close before he turned to James.

"Trust her do we?" he hissed.

"Of course we do," James shrugged. "Lily would never."

"Don't speak for the rest of us just because you're… blinded by love," Sirius spat.

"Not this again," James moaned. "I'm not in love with her, how much does it take to beat that into your impressively thick skull?"

Peter snuck quietly up the stairs, knowing better than to stay in the same room as Sirius and James when they were having a row. The last time Sirius had ended up with an extra nose.

"I know it's a hard blow, loosing her to the likes of Snape," Sirius continued. "I can perfectly understand you're in denial. But don't take it out on the rest of us."

"I haven't lost anything," James countered. "And besides, Lily says they're just friends and I believe her."

"Lily could tell you the world was flat and you'd believe her," Sirius muttered.

"Whatever floats you boat, Padfoot," James said, heading for the stairs. "I don't need to listen to this. Goodnight."

"You just might be the biggest idiot in Britain, Prongs," Sirius called after him.

"No, I think you're still the leading authority on that," James called, slamming the door behind him.

*

June came with rain, which suited most of the students fine as they didn't much like the idea of doing their exams when the sun was shining outside. But by the time the exams started, the rain clouds had all been chased away by bright sunlight, and on the morning Lily made her way to their first exam, Potions, she actually looked forward to the freezing dungeon. She had stayed up late the night before studying ingredients and mixes but she still felt sure she would fail.

Even Avery's dungeon wasn't its same, freezing self in this heat wave, but Lily had other worries beside the temperature. She shuffled desperately through some last minute reading when, to the whole class' surprise, Professor Sprout emerged from Avery's office.

"What's up?" Sirius asked. "Where's Avery?"

"I'm afraid Professor Avery has gone missing," Sprout said, sound rather surprised herself. "He left on personal business this weekend, and didn't return as planned last night."

The whole class looked surprised, and Lily exchanged a quick look with Severus, who just shrugged slightly.

"I'm afraid you exam will be cancelled," Sprout continued. "You may all go."

Another quick look at Severus confirmed where she'd find him.

*

There was a careful knock on the door, and Albus Dumbledore looked up from his book.

"Enter," he said, and a short man in dark blue robes and a bowler hat entered.

"Aw, Cornelius," Dumbledore smiled. "I have been expecting you. Take a seat."

He motioned to one of the chairs on front of the desk, and Cornelius Fudge sat down, nervously removing his bowler.

"I trust you have news for me," Dumbledore said, and Fudge nodded.

"Bad news I'm afraid, Albus," he said, spinning his hat. "We… we've found Madame Nitgale."

"And," Dumbledore said calmly.

"Well, she's not dead," Fudge said. "She… I'm afraid she has gone mad, Albus. We can't get a decent word out of her."

"Where is she now?" Dumbledore asked.

"St. Mugo's," Fudge said quickly. "Albus, I'm worried. This… 'problem'. It's getting out of hand. The ministry is helpless; we have no clues to go by. I fear the Minister will have to resign."

He looked expectantly up at Dumbledore, who said nothing.

"We need someone new," Fudge continued. "Someone with proper knowledge in such fields." Again he looked expectantly at Dumbledore, who smiled slightly.

"I know what you are going to ask me, Cornelius" he said slowly. "But I must respectfully decline. In such times, my place is here at the school, with my students."

"But Albus," Fudge said. "If the press get hold of this… It will be madness."

"My dear Cornelius," said Dumbledore calmly, "it already is."

"There's no way I can convince you, is there?" Fudge asked, and Dumbledore shook his head.

"Very well," Fudge sighed. "I must get back to London. Goodbye, Albus."

He put his bowler back on, and left.

*

"I wonder what happened to Avery," Lily said.

It had been an hour since they Sprout had let them go, and Lily and Severus had both snuck off to the office. He slid his arm around her naked waist and kissed her brow.

"I don't know," he said, and added with a slight smile; "But at least you don't have to worry about your exam anymore."

"Don't say that," Lily said. "I mean, what if something terrible's happened to him. What if he's… "

"Dead?" Severus finished, and Lily nodded.

"I don't know," he sighed. "And honestly, I don't want to think about it now. I have to be in class in 45 minutes." He kissed her. "And I'd rather not waste our time."

*

When Lily woke that Thursday morning, she was remarkably calm, considering she had an exam in an hour's time. But of all her exams, this was the one Lily was the least worried about; Divination. She tucked her battered tarots into her bag (Trewlany had hinted she might test them on that) and made her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Most of the other students seemed to already have gone down, and the halls were empty. Lily turned a corner, and suddenly someone pulled her into an empty classroom.

"Severus?" she smiled, slightly surprised to see him.

"Good morning to you too," he said dryly, kissing her. "I wanted to wish you good luck while I still had the chance."

"Thanks, same to you," Lily smiled. "What do you have today?"

"Advanced Defence against the dark arts," Severus sighed.

"You'll no doubt be fine then," Lily said.

"Let's hope so," he muttered. "Can I see you tonight?"

"Of course," Lily nodded. "Around seven?"

"Sounds good," he whispered, kissing her quickly. "I'll see you then."

He slipped out the door, and Lily waited a few minutes before she left herself.

The rest of the class had already arrived in the tower when Lily came up the stairs half an hour later. Most of them looked about as calm as she did. Three years of Trewlany's class had taught them the tricks they needed to pas.

Lily sank down on the floor, shuffling her cards. After waiting for half an hour, she was called in.

Trewlany's office was stuffy and hot, and wrapped in its usual pink mist. Thankfully, Lily noted, a window was open near Trewlany's desk. She sat down, trying to blow away as much of the incense as possible, as discreetly as possible.

"I would like you to do a tarot reading," Trewlany said in her airy voice. "Would you please chose the deck that you feel speaks to you?"

She waved her hand towards four decks on the table.

"Actually, " Lily said, rummaging her bag, "I remembered you said we might be doing one, so I brought my own."

She found the cards and placed them on the table. Trewlany smiled approvingly.

"That's good," she said. "You'll gain an advantage by using cards that already know you. They will speak to you better."

"That's what I was thinking," Lily said. "I prefer my own cards. Who am I going to read? Am I supposed to just pick someone randomly?"

"I'll pick for you," said Trewlany.

She held her wand over a bowl, and a white note flew out of it. "Severus Snape," she said.

Lily almost laughed out loud.

"Well, that should not be a problem," Trewlany said. "I doubt you know him. And even if you did, a true seer could look past such things and see be objective."

"Of course," Lily nodded, struggling to remain serious. "Do you want me to do a particular reading?" she asked.

"Follow your instincts," Trewlany said. "And take your time."

Lily shuffled the cards, closing her eyes. The horoscope would be a good spread, she decided. That way, she could keep an eye on him and see if she had been right. She started laying out the cards, explaining to Trewlany as she went along.

An hour later Lily was out of the stuffy classroom, feeling as if her birthday had come early. The exam had gone splendidly, and by the sound, and look of Trewlany, she was looking at top marks. She made a mental note to tell Severus he needed to watch out for family conflicts in July as she hurried down the stairs from the tower. With the rest of the day off, she decided to go back to the dorm to fetch her books and find a sunny spot outside where she could study for her Arithmancy exam.

When she scrambled through the portrait hole, she found the common room empty except for one person. James Potter was sitting on the sofa, staring into the air.

"James," Lily said carefully, but he didn't react.

"James," she said a little louder, and he turned his head to look at her. Lily instantly noticed the tears.

"James, what's wrong?" she asked, hurrying over to him.

"My uncle," James said quietly. "He… he died yesterday evening."

"Oh James, I'm so sorry," Lily whispered. "When did you find out?"

"Just now," James said absent-mindedly. "I'm supposed to be doing an exam right now, but."

He shrugged. Lily put her arm around him.

"If you need to talk," she offered, but he shook his head.

"Thanks for offering though," he said, looking up at her. "I thought you never wanted to speak to me again."

Lily smiled vaguely. "It's impossible to stay mad at you, you should know that by now."

James attempted a smile too.

"You're an angel, Lily, do you know that?" he said. "Don't ever change."

"I think you might be exaggerating just a bit," Lily blushed.

"No, I mean it," James said. "You're just…" He stopped, shaking his head. "Never mind," he muttered.

Lily hugged him.

"You're not so bad yourself, James," she whispered, and he smiled, more genuinely this time. Their eyes met, and for a second they just held the gaze. Then James started leaning slowly closer to her. Just in time, Lily pulled away.

"James, I'm sorry but,"

"I know, I know," James interrupted, looking down. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be," Lily started. "I just… it's complicated."

James nodded. "I know," he said again. "Let's just forget it almost happened."

Lily nodded, and there was an awkward silence.

"I still have two free shoulders if you need one," Lily said at last. James just nodded.

'You really are an angel, Lily,' he thought to himself.

*

Severus threw himself on the sofa, rubbing the wound on his arm. His exam had been duelling professor McDowen, and even though Severus had come out the winner, his professor had still managed to hit him with a few nasty curses.

"You've got talent there, my lad," he had said afterwards. "You might want to look into a career as an auror."

Severus had only nodded. Somehow, he didn't see himself as one.

He looked up at the grandfather clock, which was half past 'lunch'. He hadn't found Lily in the great hall, which was why he had headed for the office. He lay back on the sofa, convinced she would show up soon enough, and before long he fell asleep.

When he woke up, the clock read 'Almost bedtime'. He was still alone, and there was no sign that Lily had been there at all.

'She just forgot,' he told himself, getting off the sofa, but he didn't manage to convince himself. Why would she forget?

*

It wasn't until Lily crawled into bed near midnight that she remembered her date with Severus. She was halfway out of bed before realizing what time it was, and that Severus probably had gone back to his dorm. She would have to pull him aside after Transfiguration tomorrow and explain, though she wasn't very keen to tell him she had forgotten about their date because she had spent the evening with James.

*

To Lily's surprise, Severus accepted her reason right away.

"Poor James," was all he said, causing Lily to just stare at him.

"What, I do have feeling you know," Severus said, sounding somewhat insulted.

"So you're not upset?" Lily asked, still astounded.

"Of course not," he lied, kissing her.

*

The last couple of days flew away, and before she knew it Lily was standing on the platform with her things packed all around her and a report card that would make any parent beam. Sirius had given it one glance before he pronounced her the new Head Girl.

"And Prongs here the new Head Boy, of course. You'll make quite the pair."

She caught Severus eye across the platform, and he gave her a quick smile before he boarded the train. Lily hurried inside too before James and the boys found her and demanded she share their compartment. She made her way to the back of the train with Hercules poking his head out of the pocket of her robes, and entered the last compartment. A few moments later, Severus showed up. He closed the door, drawing the blinders. Lily slipped her arms around his waist, and locked the door.

"Should I be worried?" he teased, and Lily winked seductively.

"I thought so," he smiled, pulling her closer and kissing her.

The train ride seemed all too short. When they pulled into Kings Cross, Lily had fallen asleep against Severus' shoulder. He shook her carefully to wake her.

"Here already?" Lily muttered sleepily.

"Yes, and I'd better go so we're not seen together," he said, getting up. Lily got to her feet too, and embraced him.

"I'll miss you," she whispered against his lips.

"And I you," he assured her. "I'll write you to work out when I can come visit."

Lily nodded. He kissed her quickly and slipped out of the compartment.

The platform was full of the usual mayhem of people hugging, mothers trying to flatten their son's hair while saying "You've grown so much" and people pushing through the crowd to get their luggage. Lily's parents would be waiting on the other side of the barrier. While getting her luggage, she spotted Severus a few feet away talking to a woman with long, dark brown hair. Despite the fact that Severus looked nothing like her, it was obviously his mother.

After waiting in line for half an hour, Lily got through the barrier. Her parents were waiting just outside.

"Lily, how good to see you," her mother smiled, hugging her.

"Where's Petunia?" Lily asked.

"She had to work," her mother said, but Lily knew that was a lie.

"Have a nice summer, Lily."

Lily spun around, surprise to hear Severus' voice.

"You too," she called after him as he disappeared into the crowd.

"Who was that?" her mother asked, looking after Severus.

"Just a friend from school," Lily said with a smile. There would be plenty of time to explain later.

***

I have to admit, I've been looking forward to writing Severus meeting Petunia for ages! And Vernon. And that's the next chapter. Also, Lily learns a few things about Severus she might not have seen coming...

Thanks for all the lovly reviews. Keep 'em coming!