A/N: New chapter three is up. Hooray!
Disclaimer: I own nothing...
Happy Reading!
Chapter Three - Sectumsempra
Weeks upon weeks passed and turned into months. Finally June came around, and still Lily and Severus had not spoken of their secret relationship to anyone other than Remus. It seemed that every weekend they would find themselves together at midnight, except, of course, for the dates with the full moon, in which they stayed safely inside. And again on the night before they took their N.E.W.T.s they had stayed in their dormitories for a bit of extra studying. But the testing was over, and the pair of them found that their relationship had turned from a two-sided crush to something much more, and yet both feared to say it aloud. The word was love, and both feared the same things: rejection and pain. But then again, people seemed to be very fearful anyway, for word of a Dark Lord had begun to spread and nobody wanted to die without having loved. On those wonderful nights, however, Severus and Lily would spend their precious time together, sometimes talking animatedly about things that were happening and sometimes not talking much at all. In school, though more specifically in Potions, they would work together. They had been Potions partners before, but back moths ago the assignment hadn't been the convenience it was now. Often times Lily wondered whether they were being obvious; whether their hands were touching far too more to be accidental or whether the comfortable way in which they conversed was all too friendly to be professional. Yes, Severus was as gruff wih her in public as always, but he could not help but talk to her when he could, even if he was sitting in a room full of potential enemies.
Lily and Severus were lying on the grass, staring at the stars. She turned her head to watch him and dwelled upon the memories that she now kept close to her heart. She had learned so much about Severus in the last few months; about his less than desirable parentage; about his passion for school and his ambitious desire to be recognized for his skills; about how miserable it was to not have any friends but Malfoy; about how Malfoy could be such a foul git sometimes; about how amazing the Dark Arts were. Though most of the time Severus listened to what Lily rambled on about, he did get his fair share of talking time.
Severus turned his head and saw that she had been watching him.
"What?" He said flatly.
Lily sighed and sat up. She picked a piece of grass and tied it in a knot.
"Nothing," she said in an unconvincing tone.
Severus sat up with a grunt and picked a piece of grass of his own and tied it like Lily was doing repeatedly.
"Liar," he said calmly, his eyes on the grass between his fingers.
Lily sighed again.
"It's just, I mean, I know you're reluctant and everything," She began hesitantly, "but I'm really sick of hiding all of this from everyone and I still think they need to see two people that have managed to get along from houses that generally… you know…"
"Hate each other," Severus finished.
"Well, yeah." Lily said, "I mean, we're not even trying and unite the houses for their sakes, are we? We're doing it so that we can be together and be left alone about it. What if we just acted like we don't care? Do you think they'll leave us alone?"
"No," Severus replied simply, throwing his piece of grass into the lake.
"I guess not," Lily said, watching his blade of grass float away, and then turned to Severus with determination. She suddenly made up her mind. "But I still want to try. I say we abandon all of this secrecy and act like we don't even notice that you're from Slytherin and I'm from Gryffindor. What do you think?"
"I think it's so crazy that it just might work."
"Really?"
"No, but if you really want it, I'll do it."
"Really?!"
"Really."
Overcome with relief and joy, Lily flung herself at him and hugged him, knocking him back onto the grass. She kissed him in her glee, and Severus couldn't help but notice how her eyes were sparkling and beautiful and everything right all put together. The combination of her smile and that perfume that she wore was far more enticing than anything he'd ever encountered. Before he could help it, the words had slipped out of his mouth in a barely audible whisper.
"God I love you."
Severus closed his mouth and his eyes widened as he realized what he had just said. Of course, he wouldn't have said it if it wasn't true, but he was not usually the type to be open about his feelings, and especially not with love. But Lily didn't get up and walk away. On the contrary, she stared down at him in disbelief, her mouth slightly ajar and her hair hanging down over their faces. She placed one hand on either side of him and lifted herself an inch off of him so that she could stare properly.
"You do?"
Not knowing what else to do and knowing that he might just have ended the relationship, Severus nodded. Lily's face broke into another smile and she kissed him again.
"Good," Lily said as she rolled off him, "because I love you as well."
They both stood up and found that they didn't feel awkward at all. In fact, the butterfly effect was totally gone, which meant to Lily that something was true: She was in real love and not just young, puppy love. It was the real deal, and that meant something more than anything else had.
"We should go," Lily said.
"Yeah," Severus replied vaguely, thinking that he'd much rather stay with Lily then go back to his room, were Malfoy, Rosier, Wilkes, Avery and Lestrange were sleeping.
When they embraced he closed his eyes and inhaled her scent deeply. He wondered to himself what perfume she wore and toyed with the idea of asking her.
This is so much better than being in Slytherin, he thought to himself.
-
The next morning, Lily went to breakfast very early and then hurried back to the girl's dormitory. She got changed and prepared for the day ahead, which was doomed to be an interesting day. Her walk down to the Great Hall seemed to take an eternity, and she paused just outside the door. A deep, calming breath later, she opened the door and stepped inside.
There he was, standing at the end of the Slytherin table, looking slightly anxious. Severus stood there, flexing his fingers and looking slowly around the room until his eyes landed on Lily in the doorway. Ignoring the beckons from James and Sirius and avoiding eye contact with Remus, who was looking nervous as well, Lily walked straight to the back of the Hall to where Severus was standing.
She marched up to Severus and stopped in front of him, feeling the anxious butterflies from her audacity. She spared him a tiny smile and he smirked back.
"Hi," Lily said quietly.
"Hello," Severus murmured in reply, fighting to keep his eyes from darting around.
Several people turned to watch, for approaching Severus Snape seemed like a very daring thing for Lily Evans to attempt – especially in the morning. And then Lily Evans did something that was against every rule in the Gryffindor book, something that was thought to be impossible: She hugged him. And to the disbelief of everyone in the Hall whose eyes were now glued upon the couple, he hugged her back.
"How are you?" Lily whispered into his ear as they embraced.
"Could be worse," He drawled in his most Snape-like way, raising his brows.
They broke apart and she nodded her head in the direction of the exit.
"Where are you off to?" She asked nonchalantly, taking his hand as they started walking.
"Defense," he replied conversationally. "And you?"
"Charms," She said with the slightest of smiles; James and Sirius were watching her pass by their table, open-mouthed.
When they were outside the doors of the Great Hall, Lily burst into laughter.
"Did you see their faces?" She exclaimed. "Pettigrew's kipper fell right out of his mouth!"
He smirked, but did not seem to house the same appreciation as Lily.
That is so like him, Lily thought to herself, he's fascinated by the Dark Arts and laughs when people get injured, but he hardly smiles at the real amusing things in life.
"What?" Lily asked in disbelief. "You hardly seem amused at all!"
Severus watched his feet as they continued down the corridor, his expression slightly grim.
"I just feel a little edgy about it," he said quietly. "You know where I stand on this argument and I don't intend on repeating myself."
Lily stopped outside her classroom.
"Don't worry about it, alright?" she said, squeezing his hand and planting a kiss on his cheek. "Hogsmeade trip today; we'll hang around at the Three Broomsticks and have some butterbeers."
Severus nodded half-heartedly and she disappeared into the classroom, leaving him alone in the hall to sigh and feel unsure.
"The things I do for that girl," Severus muttered to himself as he stalked off towards his Defense Against the Dark Arts class, shaking his head.
Severus had a bad feeling about the exposal of their relationship; he would have gladly waited until the end of school to tell everyone, for he would probably not ever see them after that. He had told Lily this on several occasions, but she didn't listen. Her heart was set now on showing everybody that house unity, namely Gryffindor-Slytherin unity, was possible – something that Severus had thought impossible. But now, what with the Dark Lord on the rise, a little unity seemed necessary and even possible.
The rest of the day passed unmercifully. Apparently the news that Severus Snape, the disliked Dark Arts specialist and Lily Evans, the popular, cheeky good-girl had found love had spread through the school like wildfire. Some people thought that it was sweet and thought that a little unity never hurt anyone. On the other hand, of course, some people did not support it at all. Lucius Malfoy and Severus had a shouting match in Transfiguration and received detentions from an irate McGonagall. All in all, both Lily and Severus received their fair share of ridicule, both separate and apart from each other.
Both Lily and Severus were more than glad to get out of the school and into Hogsmeade, where they could at least breathe air that didn't seem angry at them. So they walked down to the village together. Many people were in Hogsmeade on this fine day to celebrate the end of exams, including professors as well as students. However, many people had grown tired of Hogsmeade had grown tired of the village and would rather sit by the lake or bask in the warm sun. Some people stared and pointed as Severus and Lily walked by, as if Lily and Severus couldn't hear them.
Lily watched as Severus walked alongside her.
"Why do you walk like that?" she asked him.
"Like what?"
"Like that. All twitchy-like. You kind of remind me of a spider when you walk," Lily said nonchalantly. "You only walk like that when people are watching, though. When it's just you and me, you have good posture…kind of. You look a bit peaky, too, kind of like a plant kept in the shade too long."
Severus shot her a sidelong glare and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he hunched his shoulders.
"Thanks," he said coldly. "That makes me feel so much better. How's this?"
Severus straightened his back and held his head higher. Lily roared with laughter and he went back to his normal posture, scowling. They sauntered on until they came into the village. After window-shopping for about five minutes, they grew bored and decided to go to the Three Broomsticks before heading back.
"Alright, as long as you don't try to drag me into Madame Puddifoot's," Severus said grimly, causing Lily to snort unbecomingly.
"Oh darn," she said sarcastically, snapping her fingers. "I was really hoping to stop by and get some tea there."
The duet walked into the Three Broomsticks to see that it was, as usual, incredibly crowded. They managed to find an empty booth and slid in across from each other. They both ordered drinks and as they sipped them they talked casually about odds and ends. Lily was careful to watch him as they spoke and as she told him that Anne had thrown a fit this morning about Lily's choice of men. Lily saw through Severus' pretence of indifference at once and loved him all the more.
"Well I can't say I blame her," he said, taking a small sip of his drink.
Lily swept back her long red hair and waved his words away with her hand.
"Well I'm not going to lie," she said, "You're not as much of a looker as some of the blokes here, I trust you know that by now and I'm going to be blunt with you. Still, there's something… I don't know what it is, but it's there."
Her voice faded to nothing and she set her eyes on the view outside. It was Severus' turn to watch her curiously, not knowing what that 'something' was that she was talking about any more than she.
Upon exiting the Three Broomsticks, James Potter came running up to Lily, looking angry. James shook Lily's shoulders vigorously, causing her to become rather dizzy.
"Are you nuts?" He roared. Spittle flew from his mouth and showered a very disgusted Lily. "Hanging around with scum like Snivellus! You'll get hurt or taken advantage of. He's just another one of them – a snake; there's not a drop of good in him!"
Severus stepped between James and Lily and stared down his hooked nose at James.
"Go away, Potter, it's none of your business what she does," He said calmly, though his hand twitched towards his pocket; James' words had begun to take an effect.
"Severus, no!" Lily shrieked as she saw this motion. "Don't, you'll be expelled! Both of you!"
Lucius came running over next, his wand drawn and a malicious sneer on his pointed face.
"Malfoy, what do you want?" James snapped, shoving Severus out of his way to better look at Lucius.
Lucius didn't look fazed at all. In fact, he merely laughed cruelly and raised his wand.
"To duel, of course," Lucius said. "We need to sort out some inter-house… differences." He turned towards Severus and grinned. "I don't know what charm she used on you, Snape, but don't worry; I know a great remedy for your infatuation with this Mudblood."
Lily gave a shout and jumped between Potter and Lucius, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. McGonagall chose this time to be inconveniently walking down the street and saw the next chain of events that occurred.
"You foul Slytherin!" James roared. "How dare you call Lily that? You want a fight? Well I'll give you a fight!"
"No, James, don't!" Lily cried, turning to face James while still trying to block him from Lucius. "Don't you understand? There will be a bigger price than just suspension or expulsion to pay if you fight him!"
Lucius, who had taken the Slytherin comment seriously, pointed his wand at James from under Lily's arm and bellowed "SECTUMSEMPRA!"
Lily screamed as gashes ripped across James' body, spurting blood in all directions. James fell backwards onto the ground with a shout and Lily fell to her knees in front of him, whipping out her wand and trying desperately to cease the flow of blood from James' face. McGonagall gave a shout from down the street and broke into a run towards them.
Lily turned to Malfoy and cried, "You loathsome little –!"
Malfoy swiped his wand again and Lily bent double in pain and fell back onto the ground, screaming in agony. The spell had caused her to feel pain as if she were being repeatedly stabbed in the abdomen. The curse stopped as abruptly as it had started and Lily looked up to see that Severus was shaking in anger, his wand pointed at Lucius' chest. Lucius, who was being held still by one of Severus' nonverbal spells, stared in shock, his wand lying useless on the ground. Lily tried to stagger to her feet and grab Severus to stop him, but it was too late.
"NO!" She screamed, and Severus retaliated to Lucius' actions.
Severus made a wild motion in the air with his wand and the same gashes that had appeared on James appeared on Lucius. Lucius fell back and lay motionless on the ground, which was beginning to turn red with the two men's blood. Screams echoed from all around from bystanders and McGonagall pushed through the audience to get to the foursome. Severus wheeled around to see Lily, panting and crying and covered in blood. He took one look at her then turned on his heel and pelted back up towards the castle. Narcissa Black ran forward through the crowd and dropped to her knees in front of her significant other.
"Snape, you traitor!" she screamed, lifting Lucius' head onto her lap and stroking his blonde hair away from his blood-soaked forehead.
"It's wasn't his fault," Lily gasped through sobs as she tended to James' wounds. "It was m-mine."
Meanwhile, Avery and Rosier had shoved through the crown and were stemming the flow of blood from Malfoy's face and chest while Narcissa gaped at Lily. McGonagall dropped to her knees in front of James and conjured two stretchers. She muttered an incantation and the blood stopped flowing from James' face. She levitated the two men onto their stretchers and sent them in the direction of the castle.
"He hexed his own friend!" muttered a nearby Hufflepuff to a Ravenclaw.
"Well that's just like them Slytherins, isn't it?" The Ravenclaw replied. "Always backstabbing and scheming."
Remus and Sirius, closely followed by Peter, came running up and tried to console Lily. Finally Sirius bent over and scooped the hysterical Lily off the ground and carried her up to the castle. She wrapped her arms around his neck and bawled into his chest, covered in James' blood; everything had been screwed up in five minutes. Severus would surely be expelled, and he added to Slytherin's terrible reputation just a little more by attacking his own friend.
Inside the Gryffindor common room, Sirius set Lily down on one of the couches and ran off with Peter to go and see James. Remus, however, stayed behind. He sat Lily up and calmed her down, and then looked her straight in the eye with a grave expression.
"I told you I'd help you out of tight spots," he said slowly to her, wiping a tear away from her face with his thumb. "What do you need me to do?"
Lily closed her eyes and sniffed, thinking hard. She gulped and wiped her bloody hands on her clothes and tried to keep her lip from trembling.
"I need you to find him, Remus," Lily said. "Tell him to meet me in the Room of Requirement. You've got that map, right?"
Remus nodded.
"Alright, then when they come to interrogate as to whether you've seen Severus or me, you tell them you last saw us heading for the exit, okay?"
Remus nodded again and Lily hugged him. She stood up and looked down at her bloody hands.
"I have some unfinished business I need to take care of with him, Remus," Lily said. "I'm going to take a shower and put on my uniform and then I'm going to get up to the seventh floor. I'll be waiting."
Remus nodded yet again and she disappeared up the stairs. Remus sighed, ran upstairs to get the map, went to visit James briefly, then set out for his task.
-
Severus pushed open the door to the room and stepped in, amazed that he had never noticed it before. It was massive, with a high Victorian-style ceiling. Standing in the middle of the room, which was empty, was Lily. They stared at each other with blank expressions as Severus closed and locked the door behind him. He stood at the door and she stood in her spot, leaning slightly on a nearby chair for support. Her cheeks bore the unmistakable signs of recent crying, and her hands were still slightly stained with James' blood. Her eyes were dry now, though, as she stared blankly. He noticed that she had undoubtedly showered and cleaned up.
"You arranged to meet me?" Severus said, panting slightly from having run from the authorities and half the school.
"Yes," Lily replied weakly. "Remus is supposed to cover for us – tell them that he saw us darting away from the school when they come looking. He's got a really nifty map on him."
For the first time Severus looked around the room in wonder. It was very plain and yet very Victorian.
"What is this place?" he asked as he looked around. "I've never seen it before."
"The Room of Requirement," Lily replied. "It's a room that helps those in need. James found it a few years ago. I made it so that nobody can open the door except for you and me. I wanted to… to talk." She paused and he could tell that her resolution of calm was diminishing quickly. "Are you alright?" she asked in a shaky voice.
He looked down at his feet and, much to his dismay, felt a small lump in his throat. The school had been his sanctuary for the last seven years, and now he was going to have to leave earlier than he had expected. Not only that, but Potter's words were still ringing in his ears like a recorded sound.
"I'll be on the train tomorrow," Severus said quietly. "They're not going to snap my wand because of the circumstances in which I attacked Lucius. They called it defense of Potter and you or something stupid. But still… Potter was right. I am nothing more than another snake, without a drop of good in my veins."
His voice broke and he sank to his knees, clutching at his throat in despair. He hit his head on the floor repeatedly, as if this could stem the flow of tears that were pouring uncontrollably from his eyes for the first time in years. Lily ran forward and pulled Severus away from the floor to stop him from permanently injuring himself. She dropped to her knees in front of him, took his head in her hands and kissed the places on his face where his tears had fallen. Lily took Severus by the shoulders and shook him hard once, forcing him to look at her.
"Don't you say it, Severus," Lily said severely, using her sleeve to dry his face. "I know it's not true and so do you. You just lose control, I know. That doesn't mean that you're a bad person."
There was a pause in which they both looked at the ground. When Lily next spoke, her voice was shaky and slow.
"Let me go with you," she said. "I've taken the N.E.W.T.s, I'm as good as graduated."
Severus shook his head and grabbed Lily's hands. He stared her in the face sternly.
"No, you must stay," he said firmly. "Nothing's more important that education, than learning everything you can. I may have blown it for myself by attacking Lucius, but you can still finish what we started all those years ago. Finish school, graduate, work hard. Technically, since I've taken the tests, I'm certified, but graduating is a privilege I won't have."
Severus pulled Lily to her feet and looked down upon her. He seemed to have recuperated and gone into a state of calm resignation. He stared into her green eyes in disbelief of everything that had happened to him in the recent months. Everything from the dance to this very meeting. Severus had gone from an immature, angry teenager to a slightly more mature, way less angry, and even happy young man, and he found himself grateful. He pulled her into a tight hug.
"I'm going to turn myself in," He murmured into her ear. "By this time tomorrow, I'll be back at my house. I'll get a job, earn some money, and wait for you until you graduate. I will wait for you, no matter what."
"I know," Lily replied when he released her. "Which leads me to my other reason for this meeting."
Her cheeks turned the slightest red, and he stared down at her in perplexity as she loosened her tie and kicked off her shoes. Severus raised his eyebrows at her. She withdrew her wand and pointed it at her chest, then muttered an incantation that Severus did not recognize.
"What are you doing?"
He looked over her shoulder and saw something that most certainly wasn't there moments before. A large four-poster bed with scarlet hangings and red sheets was sitting in the middle of the room, in what had been an empty space. He looked back down at her in confusion to see her casting away her tie onto the floor. She looked up at him, suppressing a slightly embarrassed smile. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he habitually wrapped his arms around her waist.
"What's going on?" Severus asked, unable to hide his puzzlement.
She kissed him deeply, and he loosened his tie a bit, for he found himself feeling a little hot under the collar.
"Shut up," she murmured as she began to plant kisses down his jaw and neck. "You take pride in being smart, but you're so naïve."
His eyes widened as her fingers began fumbling with his belt and comprehension suddenly dawned on him.
"What the –? Oh!"
-
The next morning, Severus and Lily stood in Hogsmeade Station. His bags were packed and standing beside him and she had silent tears flowing down her face. Severus' eyes were dry now, though, and he knew that he had to pay the price for his mistakes.
The conductor stuck his head out of the window of the scarlet train.
"Let's go!" The conductor said. "We leave in one minute!"
Lily looked up at him and threw her arms around his neck. Severus picked her up and held her tight in his arms, not knowing what would come in the next few days or months or even years, just knowing that waiting for this girl would be one of the hardest things that he had ever faced. He put her back down and she kissed him softly.
"Go on," She said, bending over and plucking up his bags. "They're waiting for you."
Severus took his bags from Lily and got on the train. The scarlet train left the platform and he found that he couldn't look back lest he break down again. If he had looked back, however, he would have seen the castle that had provided him sanctuary and the one woman he ever loved both shrinking away into the distance with the rising sun casting a red light behind them both.
Lily walked the long walk back up to the castle alone, positively drowning in her misery.
"Parting is such sweet sorrow," she whispered to herself as she pushed open the door to the castle, "That I shall say good night till it be morrow."
James met her as she opened the portrait hole and stepped in, wiping the tears from her eyes. He hugged her lightly, for he was in great pain from his encounter with the curse, but his eyes were full of concern.
"Are you alright, Lily?" James asked quietly.
"No," Lily replied, "But I will be soon."
James looked at the ground then slowly back up at her.
"He was a Slytherin and you liked him anyway," James said quietly. "I didn't think it was possible."
Lily looked into his hazel eyes and sighed.
"He was the same, no matter what house he was in. What's in a name? That by which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet."
There was a pause in which Lily and James stared at each other in silence.
"I wouldn't expect you to understand, James," Lily said quietly, and turned to go back to bed, for the hour was early.
"I understand, Lily," James said softly as Lily walked up the stairs like a condemned woman. "I understand."