Chapter 5 – I Promise

Lily Evans waited for the pretty dark-haired woman to leave Hogwarts. She suspected that she would either walk or fly back to Hogsmeade to take either the Floo Network or apparate, so Lily would at least have a few minutes to talk with her.

"Excuse me? Mrs. Snape?"

Severus' mother looked at Lily with surprise and then approval.

"Yes, dear?"

"Hello – I'm – Lily Evans – "

The witch smiled and took both of Lily's hands in her own. "You must be one of my son's friends! Tenebria Snape. I'm so pleased to meet you!"

Lily felt like a heel.

"Why, yes, I am. Might I walk a little ways with you?"

"Of course you can; I'd be happy for the company. I came up here on a bit of a rush. Have you seen Severus up in the Hospital Wing yet? I was rather surprised that I didn't see any of his other friends there."

"I haven't been up yet, but that's where I'm heading after my next class."

"What are you studying, dear?"

"I like Transfiguration and Charms the best so far," Lily replied, finding it easy to smile at this lovely woman.

"Potions was my favorite. I think Sevi likes it too -- "

"Mrs. Snape?"

"Yes, dear?"

"I – I just wanted to let you know that I'll be keeping an eye out for – Sevi. To make sure he gets back on his feet, and gets to meals, and all. I don't want you to worry needlessly."

Lily bit her lip as she watched Mrs. Snape's eyes fill with tears of gratitude.

"Oh, bless you, young lady! I worry about him. I worry about him so much. He was rather – well, we were rather isolated when he was growing up, and I don't want him to feel out of place."

"He's fine, really. Don't worry, all right?"

"How can I thank you?"

"No need to, I guess. I – well, we all are happy to do it. And if you can excuse me? I want to get to my class before I land in too much trouble!"

Mrs. Snape wrapped Lily in a hug. "Thank you, my dear. I feel so much better, having met you today!"

"Well – you know what they say – 'a trouble shared is a trouble halved' – "

"Bless you, young Lily."

"I'll keep an eye out for him. I promise."

Severus' mother smiled once again, then turned and made her way down the sidewalk in the direction of Hogsmeade.

Lily was left, half dumbfounded by what she had said and done.

"What on Earth have you gotten yourself into, Lily Evans?" she thought before she began her own walk to class, in the opposite direction.

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"Keep quiet!" Lily Evans hissed in Severus Snape's ear. "I just want to talk to you a minute, okay?"

Severus had nearly jumped out of his own skin, first with surprise at having been taken off guard, and second with horror that beautiful Lily was seeing him in his pajamas.

"What -- ?"

"Listen. It's okay. I talked to your mother – "

At this, Snape began to hyperventilate. "You – talked – to -- ?"

"Your – mother. Yes. That's right. Now calm down; you look like I've scared you green."

"You – have! What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Well, that's real friendly of you, Severus. Calm down. Breathe normally. That's a boy. Calm. Thaaaaaat's it."

She took one of his hands and patted it, and looked into his wide dark eyes with what she earnestly hoped was a soothing expression. He held onto the proffered hand for dear life.

"I can only stay a minute. Pomfrey will probably throw me out straightaway. I just wanted you to know that I feel bad about what my fellow Gryffindors did to you. I'm sorry you're stuck up here all by yourself. Did you get a decent dinner?"

"Horrible," Severus answered, still thoroughly shell-shocked by seeing the woman of his dreams while decked in probably the tackiest pair of pajamas in the Western Hemisphere. "I still don't understand why – "

"As I was saying -- I talked to your mother when she was here."

Severus went ice-cold inside for a moment, thinking that Lily shared the details of his recent ordeals with her. Then his face went scarlet, thinking that Lily beheld a bit more of him than pajamas would reveal.

"Oh, don't be a fool, Severus. I didn't look at you yesterday, and I didn't tell your mum anything at all except that I would be sure to look after you -- so she wouldn't have to worry, you know."

"Look – after – me?"

"Has someone cast a Repetition Charm on you, or something? Stop repeating everything I say! Just be still and LISTEN!"

Severus sat absolutely still, embarrassed to death over the pajamas but thrilled to death over holding Lily's hand.

"My friends are idiots. I think that I was an idiot to say those things to you yesterday, after you called me a mudblood."

"Um – I'm sorry for what I said, too."

"Well – thank you for that. When one's parents put notions in our heads, it can be very hard to shake loose of them. Anyway, I think I made things worse for you by making fun of you the way I did, and I'm very sorry for it. That's what I wanted to tell you when I saw your mother coming in here with Pomfrey."

"You – listened -- ?"

"Yes, I did. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Oh, hey – it's all right – "

Severus had dropped his head and she felt his warm tears plopping onto her hand, still firmly in his grasp.

"Sev – listen – everybody has troubles at home, you know. There's things about my own family that I'd rather choke than tell people about – My own sister hates me....."

The boy shook his head. "Nobody has troubles at home like I do, Lily."

"You don't have to feel ashamed. It's not your fault, you know. We don't pick our parents – or our siblings."

His whole body had tensed. She knew he wouldn't look up and meet her eyes if his life depended on it.

With that, Lily's own shame at her own behavior the other day caught up with her, and she began to cry in good earnest herself. How much was for her and how much was for this strange boy next to her, she had no clear idea. Lily put her arm around him, and held him in a warm embrace.

"What the -- ?" hissed Poppy Pomfrey, descending upon the two teenagers like Doom. "Miss Evans! What on Earth are you doing here? Severus! Let go of that girl's hand before you cut off the circulation entirely! Explain yourselves!"

Sev just shook his head, without looking up. Lily straightened, using her newly-liberated hand to brush her red bangs out of her line of sight. "I was just telling Sev here how sorry I am that my friends are idiots."

Pomfrey fixed her with a gaze, and several seconds' time passed. "Well, that proves to me that you have more of a head on your shoulders than I originally reckoned. Now that we've had this little talk, shall we go back to do some studying, Miss?"

Lily gave her a faint smile. "Oh, sure. Yes. I was just checking to see if Sev needed anything before I left."

The boy gave her a look that she couldn't quite read.

"I'll just – be on my way, then, ma'am."

"Please, Miss Evans. And if you see Mr. Black in your travels, tell him that it might behoove him to come up here and confess to idiocy as well."

Both Severus and Lily smiled at this.

"Well – goodbye, then," said Lily. She felt a jumble of emotions – fear, pride, pity, anger, and admiration – that all passed through her in seconds. Turning on her heel, she walked briskly down the corridor.

Nurse Pomfrey waited until she heard the big doors slam. She turned to Severus Snape. She cupped his chin with one hand and smoothed his hair with the other. "A person can't do great things without friends, child," she said. "I'm glad you have at least one good one. Now, how does that nose feel?"

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