A/N: For those of you who are confused…me and Regulus of Slytherin (another author) are good friends. We have written many stories together and have both posted said stories under different titles. So those of you who are under the impression that one or the other of us are stealing stories are sadly mistaken.

That said…Here's chapter 15

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Lily stood up and left the Great Hall as Sirius sat down. The conversation between the brothers had given her a lot to think about, but before she could do that she had to thank someone.

Standing just outside the Great Hall doors, Lily didn't have to wait long before said person made their appearance.

"Snape?" Lily smiled. She could see in the Slytherin's eyes that he was frustrated. James had that effect on people. It took a special kind of personality to put up with him, and Snape just didn't have it.

"What do you need now, Evans?" Snape growled, obviously not in the mood to deal with another Gryffindor today.

"I just wanted to thank you," Lily smiled again. She could understand a little of why the Marauders picked on Snape so much; he was fun when he was frustrated. Still, they were wrong to treat him so poorly. Snape was a good guy at heart…he had to be, or he wouldn't have done this. Right?

It was hard to shake the feeling that the Slytherin was a Death Eater, however; and no Death Eaters were good. Lily pushed the thought aside. She didn't know Snape's story, and she had no right to judge anyone. The point was that Snape couldn't be as bad as everyone thought, not when he so obviously cared about Regulus. Lily had heard what Regulus said about Snape being his brother, and she knew that the boy wouldn't have said it unless he truly trusted Snape.

"I heard Sirius say that you were having a talk with James," Lily continued at Snape's raised eyebrow. Honestly, couldn't the bloke just speak? Why did most of his conversing have to be done through body language? "And I had a feeling that it was about what we discussed yesterday."

Snape stared at Lily for a moment, his expression unreadable. Finally he nodded and moved to walk past the girl.

Lily stepped to the side so she was in front of Snape again. "Listen, if there's ever anything I can do for you…"

"There is no need for that. I did this for Regulus, not for you," Snape folded his arms across his chest when Lily still didn't move.

"Whatever the reason, I still appreciate it," Lily gave the Slytherin a shy smile. "And if you ever need anything, just ask. It's not that I feel I owe you or anything," Lily said quickly, seeing the look in Snape's eyes. "It's just…you're my friend, and friends do things to help each other out."

Before she walked away, Lily stood on her tiptoes and gave Severus a light kiss on the cheek.

She moved back and toward the stairs quickly, hoping that she hadn't been out of line. She knew that she was a very tactile person, always needing to touch and be touched, and she knew that it sometimes made people uncomfortable. Snape seemed like the kind of person who would be uncomfortable with physical contact, but she couldn't stop herself. She had needed him to know that she meant what she had said.

Lily smiled to herself as she reached her dorm room. Everyone else was at breakfast still, and she had about ten minutes before she needed to head for class. The red-head laid down on her bed and hugged her pillow, trying to figure out what it was that was making her so happy.

After the overheard conversation with Sirius and Regulus, she should really be upset. She should be upset that it looked as though Regulus and James would be getting together after all. She should be nervous about the danger that the boys would be in.

Instead, she was smiling. Smiling because she was starting to see things so differently than she ever had before. She was starting to see that maybe the world wasn't as bad as it seemed right now. If she could have been so wrong about Snape and Regulus, maybe there was a chance that other Death Eaters were decent. Maybe there was a hope that this war wouldn't be as dark as she had thought. Maybe the light of hope really could penetrate the darkness.

Lily picked up her bag and pulled out a sketch pad. Recently, all of her art had been depressing. She lived out her fears in her sketches, hoping that by drawing them she could lessen the pain should any of them come true. She glanced at the drawing she had done yesterday afternoon. It was of James holding Regulus, the Dark Mark shining on both their arms.

Flipping to a blank page, Lily picked up a pencil. She didn't know what she was going to draw, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that, for the first time in almost two years, she felt as though there was hope that they could win this war. More than that, though. She felt like she could face the darkness, and survive.

For the first time since the war had started, she wasn't afraid. She wasn't afraid for her family, or her friends, or herself. She wasn't afraid for her unborn children, or her future. She was strong, and knew that she could survive. Things were going to be all right in the end.

Looking down at her sketch, Lily smiled at the phoenix who was staring back at her with powerful and majestic eyes. Behind the phoenix was the Hogwart's seal, only it was different. Instead of being a shield with all the houses separated and surrounding the letter H, it was a half unrolled parchment with the animals at the bottom and the H shining like the sun above them.

The animals caught her attention especially. The lion was behind and above the smaller animals, protecting them. The eagle was perched beside the badger, watching for danger. The badger was glaring, hackles raised, daring others to threaten his friends. Barely visible beside the larger animals, the snake was wrapped around the lions paw. At first glance, it looked as though it was attacking the lion, but Lily knew the truth. The snake was merely protecting his friend in the only way he could, by hiding and waiting for the moment to attack any who got too close.

Lily smiled. This is how it should be, how they should be. Unified together, they were an unbeatable army. Unified, they could stand against anything.