Lily walked down the stairs to the Entrance Hall, Paige and Whitney surrounding her as a sort of protective barrier. They had been very understanding since three days ago, when Lily found out about her parents' death. James was understanding, too. Sometimes, in their common room, he and Lily would just sit and talk about her parents – well, more like Lily talked, James listened. Andrew had finally talked to Lily – but he didn't even mention her parents. All he wanted to do was kiss. Lily knew he must have known about her parents' death, because lately, it was all anyone could talk about. There was an increased tension between houses – mainly, everyone against Slytherin. Everyone feared the Ministry wouldn't find "Voldemort" soon, as they promised.

Just as Lily was reaching the final step into the Entrance Hall, someone put a forceful hand on her shoulder. She gasped, and turned around to see who it was. Severus Snape was sneering down at her.

"Oh. Severus. Did you want something, then?" she asked him, trying to sound calm.

Snape smirked. "I just wanted to say that I am so sorry about your parents, Evans."

Lily blinked innocently. "Oh…Er...thanks," she said, not aware that he was being sarcastic.

Snape sneered. "Oh yeah. No problem. It must be quite frightening for all you mudbloods – you don't know who will be killed next. Personally, I'm thankful Voldemort did it. The world could use some cleansing. We don't need useless muggles – which, no doubt, your parents were."

Lily closed her eyes for a moment, then took a deep breath, and continued to walk into the Entrance Hall, trying to ignore Snape. He grabbed her arm, and squeezed it threateningly.

"Can't handle a few words of healthy criticism? My, my. That won't do, will it, Evans? You're just as weak as your parents were, you know that? Hell. I doubt they even tried to save themselves for you. You're not worth it," Snape snickered.

"Snape. Please, just leave me alone. I don't have time for this-"

"You don't have time for me? Goodness, Evans. You better start respecting your superiors. That's probably why your parents were killed. If you don't watch out, you could be next – a filthy mudblood like you-"

"SNIVELLUS! SHUT. UP!" Suddenly, Snape was thrown against the wall by a tall, muscular young man with messy black hair. James Potter.

"POTTER! This – is – not – about you," glared Snape, gasping for air, as James tightened his grip around his neck.

"Anything concerning Evans is about me too, Snivellus. Leave her alone!" spat James, still holding Snape against the hard, stone wall.

"Ah. I see. Grief has brought you together. How very touching," Snape managed to smirk while breathing heavily. Lily turned red, and looked down at the floor. James glared at Snape, his eyes filled full with hate.

"You vile, cruel, disgusting git!" James glowered, now pulling out his wand. Suddenly, Lily put her hand on James arm – causing a tingling sensation for both of them.

Lily shook off the feeling. "Potter! Don't you dare! He's not worth it!" Lily warned.

James stared at her for a moment, then dropped Snape to the ground carelessly. "This is your last warning, Snivelly. Next time, you die." And with that, James walked away, careful to make sure he kicked Snape as many times as he could with it still looking casual.

Lily glared down at Snape. "You prat. Hell, you're worse than he is!" She pointed to James walking away. Suddenly, her expression changed from hatred to pity. "Here, let me help you up," she offered her hand to Snape. Begrudgingly, he took it, glaring at Lily nonetheless. Once his feet were firmly on the ground, Lily punched him square in the nose, to the shock of the many student spectators. Lily beamed as Snape fell to the ground again in shock, his nose bleeding profusely. She walked away from him, her head up with pride. Paige and Whitney followed, making sure to step on top of him as they walked away, causing him to groan in pain.

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"She WHAT?" asked James in awe.

"I'm telling you, mate! I saw it with my own eyes! She hit him square in the nose! It was brilliant," Sirius beamed. Anything that caused Snape pain was alright with him.

James sat on Sirius' bed, trying to soak in this information. Lily. Harming someone. On purpose. He shook his head in disbelief. "No way. You're sure it was her?"

Sirius nodded his head, grinning at his friend's shock. "It was perfect. Hit him right in the bridge of his nose. He was stunned. Fell to the ground again. You'd better watch out, Prongs. She's getting better than you."

James rolled his eyes. "I do believe I've had a bad influence on her," he said cockily.

"Shame it's not the other way round," Remus muttered.

Sirius chortled with laughter. "Like that would ever happen," he snorted.

"Oh shut it, Padfoot," James blushed, throwing a pillow at Sirius. This resulted in a large, vicious pillow fight, casualties being broken fingers, and elongated noses.

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Lily entered her common room, still in shock about what she had done – yet proud of herself nonetheless. She stopped in mild surprise as she saw James sitting on one of the couches. He grinned at her surprise. She glared back, blushing slightly.

"POTTER! Can you ever just leave poor Severus alone? Just once? Do you think it is possible that you could stop being arrogant for one second?" She groaned, half teasing, half angrily.

"I could say the same to you, Evans," he beamed. "I heard what you did to Snivelly after I left. I am extremely proud of you. Well done. You know, you're becoming a mini-me," he winked. "I've always wanted a twin!"

Lily smiled, then quickly covered it up with a scowl. "POTTER! I am not becoming a mini-you! I never will become a mini-you! That's so…repulsing!"

James stared at her in mock indignation. "HEY! I'm not that disgusting!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "You keep thinking that, Potter." She quickly walked into her room, leaving James staring after her.

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Dear Journal,

They're all right. My parents really are dead. At first, I kept up hope that they were still hiding out somewhere, waiting until all the publicity died down. But now, it's hopeless. They're dead. They're really gone. I can't believe they did this to me! They just – left me, without another word! I never even got to say goodbye. I guess they never really loved me after all. If they did, they wouldn't have left me all alone like this. No one understands what I'm going through. They all pretend they do, but they don't. How can they? I hate my parents. I HATE THEM! They never listened to me when I warned them about this "Voldemort." I hate Voldemort for doing this to them. Maybe they all made a plot to make my life miserable. It sounds like what they might do. I can't believe them all. They're absolutely horrid, all of them; mum, dad, and "Voldemort." They left me all alone. Now I have nowhere to go after graduation. There's never going to be someone there to make me calm down. They just left me. Without saying a word of it! They were so stupid! They could have run away! For me, at least! But they didn't. I can't believe I ever said I loved them.

Potter and I beat the crap out of Snape today. It was quite fun. Tomorrow, Dumbledore wants to see me in his office – probably something about my horrible parents.

Lily