"Why is the second day after the Game even harder?" Dorcas complained, pouring herself a large cup of tea the next morning.
Lily hummed in agreement, holding out her own cup so Dorcas could pour hot liquid into it. "I could have slept for a few more hours."
"Wake up me when you lot leave for class," Marlene murmured, her voice muffled as her head was buried in her crossed arms on the table.
Emmeline patted her on the shoulder pityingly. "Easy day at least, isn't it?"
Marlene groaned.
"I hear that," Dorcas mumbled, cutting into a scone.
Emmeline pointed with a finger. "Mail's in."
The girls, minus Marlene, glanced up simultaneously to watch the owls swoop in, dropping mail, letters, and packages at their respective targets.
"Is that your owl?" Dorcas wondered.
"It is!" Lily said, pleased.
She watched as her tawny owl flew into a low arch, gracefully placing a letter for Lily upon her plate, before taking flight just as quick back towards the open windows.
It was a thicker envelope than usual, especially with Lily having only just returned to school the weekend prior. With curiosity building, she plucked a knife from the table to slice open the envelope.
Out fell a piece of cardstock, heavy and embossed in silver and pink.
With growing alarm, Lily picked it up and read.
Rose Evans
And
Robert and Martha Dursley
Cordially invite you to celebrate the joining of
Petunia Evans
And
Vernon Dursley
In Holy Matrimony
21st of December of the year 1976
14:00 in the Afternoon
"What?" she gasped, reading the invitation a second, and then third time. "What?"
"Wha' issit?" Marlene murmured, raising her head at Lily's sharp tone.
"I can't believe she's really said yes… to Vernon! She said yes to Vernon? I literally just left – I hadn't even heard about this…"
Marlene was quick to catch on, peering over Lily's shoulder. "Your sister's getting married?"
"This December," she confirmed bitterly. "He's just – he's such a –"
"Nutter?" Dorcas supplied.
Marlene snorted. "Sod?"
"A wanker," Lily corrected sullenly.
"Well," Emmeline started gently. "At least she's happy, right?"
"I suppose…"
Lily picked up the envelope to peer inside, finding a handwritten letter stapled together with a second piece of paper. Her spirits lightened somewhat, recognizing her mother's writing.
Lily-love,
I'm sure you've already seen the invitation attached. Yes, Petunia is marrying Vernon and yes, we shall be very happy for your sister.
She had her heart set on December and had these invitations already on-order, waiting for Vernon apparently. We've even already gone wedding dress shopping!
Which brings me to the reason for writing. Petunia has agreed to let you be the Maid of Honor, and needs you to be immediately fitted for the dress in time for the wedding. I've attached a request for you to share with Mr. Dumbledore, asking for you to come home for a quick visit over the weekend when most convenient. Possibly closer to the wedding I think, but doubtful knowing your sister.
I know, I know. Quit pouting. The trip will be quick and you can return to your beloved Hogwarts after just two days!
Love and kisses,
Mum
And yes, Lily was pouting; but not for the reason her mum assumed.
'Agreed to let you be the Maid of Honor.'
As if her mum had begged Petunia to do so.
Her mother probably did, she mused morosely, just to get her involved with the wedding, knowing their strained relationship would find the opportunities short.
"What's the letter say?" Marlene asked.
"It's mum. She convinced Pet to let me be Maid of Honor and I have to go home for a weekend to get fitted for the dress." She raised the stapled-together letters, skimming the one her mum wrote for Dumbeldore.
"Maid of Honor?" Alice asked curiously.
"Someone who stands beside the bride," Emmeline answered for Lily. "Like a witness, but does more stuff for the wedding. Especially the bride."
From the readings Lily had done, she knew that customs were different in the Wizarding World when it came to weddings and ceremonies. Emmeline, having a muggle-born mother, knew of the cultural differences as well.
Marlene was skimming through the letters herself now. "When did she want you to go?"
"She says soon, but who knows if Dumbledore will even say yes."
Marlene scoffed, turning over the parchment. "I'm sure he'll say it's fine."
Lily plucked the letter from Marlene's hands, folded it up, and placed it back into the envelope, shoving the invitation in last. "I'll worry about this later. I should probably get to Potions early. I wanted to ask Slughorn about that apprentice program."
"I thought you wanted to be an Auror," Marlene said, puzzled. "Isn't that program better for healers?"
"An Auror?" Emmeline questioned in interest. "Since when?"
Lily refrained from wincing, hoping this conversation wouldn't be a big deal. "Since this summer. Maybe even last year, I think."
The girls, minus Marlene, released sounds of surprise.
She lifted her chin. "Chatted with McGonagall a bit to see if it was a right fit. If I could do it. And I think having the apprenticeship would look great for my profile, right?"
"Sure," Dorcas said, smiling assuringly.
Marlene whistled. "I'm wishing you luck with that, then. And Potions. I'd heard James and Sirius have class this morning, too."
"They're in Advanced Potions?"
Marlene nodded, taking a large sip of her juice. "James mentioned it this morning; we're trying to find the best times for practice besides nights and he wanted to avoid being late for Slughorn's class."
"Oh," she said.
"Yeah, something about metabolic rate better in the morning or something – I couldn't follow along. Just said 'tell me when to be there and I'll be there'. He said I should know more about training – the physical stuff? As if. He started talking about physiology and –"
"I should get going," Lily repeated, only somewhat apologetically. Potter worried about physiology? She didn't need to hear this.
"We should probably get going ourselves," Emmeline sighed. "Meet here for dinner?"
"Of course," she replied as the others agreed, stuffing the envelope into her bookbag and slinging the bag over her shoulder, standing from the table.
Then began her descent towards the dungeons.
When she came to the Potions classroom, her eyes scanned the room quickly. It was near full; only a few seats were left available. Lily was surprised to find students from a mix of houses. Too late to speak to the professor alone then.
"Miss Evans!" Slughorn boomed from the front of the room. He held his arms spread wide, in a welcoming gesture, as she walked further into the classroom.
A few heads turned towards her in interest (or lack thereof, by some of the Slytherins).
She was happy to recognize some from past study groups with the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. She was glad for the warning Marlene had given, as she wasn't as surprised to catch the eyes of Potter and Black.
With instant unease, she saw a familiar head turn at the front of the class, long black hair hanging into his eyes. Severus. His face was more shallow than she remembered, dark circles embedded under his eyes.
"Please, please," Slughorn was saying, ushering her closer. "I'll have my two best students sit together."
"No, sir, that's okay," Lily blurted. "I'll just sit..." She turned to find all the seats around her full.
"Nonsense, my dear girl, come forward! Have a seat and we'll get started shortly."
She reluctantly took the seat beside Severus, stiffly setting her bag onto the table and beginning to unpack.
Lily had no doubts Slughorn knew what had transpired the year before; almost everyone had heard about it through gossip. She suspected the head of Slytherin was playing matchmaker, trying to fix their friendship.
"Snape," she greeted mildly.
"Lily," he said, his voice hoarse as if from disuse, his tone heavy with remorse.
"Don't," she warned before he went further, slamming her book down onto her desk.
"Please, just listen –"
"I said don't," she said sharply, loud enough for the students at the table beside them to glance over. "I just want to focus on class."
Which ended up being one of the single handedly worst Potions class Lily had ever had.
Perhaps in her favor, Slughorn did not have them work yet on a potion; but instead spent most of the time speaking theory. Every time he asked a question, he looked to the two students in front of him for answers, but neither would raise their hand.
He'd given Lily multiple looks of disappointment, leaving a hole in the pit of her stomach.
When he finally dismissed the class at the bell, Lily jumped up, frantically pulling her things back into her bag as quickly as she could.
"Wait," Severus said in a pleading tone, reaching out to grab the strap of her bag. "If you'd just let me explain –"
Lily scoffed harshly, ripping the strap from his hand and fled from the desk, nearly running into Black and Potter as they exited the room in front of her.
"Sorry," she said politely. "Excuse me."
"It's alright," Potter said, sidestepping to let her pass.
"Thank you," she replied politely, probably sounding more begrudging than she should have, before taking off down the corridor at immense speed. She did not want Severus catching up to her.
It took at least two trips around the first floor before she felt calm enough to settle. Plenty of time for Severus to return to the dungeons – or wherever the hell he spent his time nowadays.
The library was a safe place, she decided. While it was most of the 6th year students' free time, most of them would likely be there – but not Severus. He'd typically avoid the crowds whenever he could.
When she'd finally arrived, collapsing at an empty table near the back of the library, she pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes. It did little to alleviate the stinging sensation she felt at the back of them.
Mudblood.
It hit her all over again, as if it had only just happened moments ago.
Filthy mudbloods like her.
Lily dropped her hands from her face and stared down at the tabletop, unseeing.
It was unjustly unfair, thinking about it now. How much of a joke she had felt. How much of a joke it had been to trust him, be his friend, when all of her friends turned down their noses.
She had been the one there for him, when he had been bullied or picked on. There for him at home, when he'd knock on her window in the middle of the night, limping and dead-eyed.
Even when he would snap at her in anger, she stayed. Even when he'd begun to ditch her to hang out with his new 'friends', when the other Slytherins appeared to have gotten used to his presence. He'd, in turn, gotten used to their name calling and derogatory terms.
Had she been so deluded into believing him when he said him being a Slytherin and her a Gryffindor wouldn't change anything?
She should've known, when she had been first sorted – she looked to him in excitement, but his expression had been one of pure dismay, as if he had been disappointed in her.
She snorted derisively, tracing a long scratch in the wooden table. And here she was, moping, again. Having the same fight with herself, again.
He'd thrown it all into her face with that damned word.
Mudblood.
Her chest ached. Clearly, if he could toss their friendship away with one little word, she shouldn't give him a second thought, right? He didn't deserve another chance after blowing the first one.
"...need to hide it or something."
Lily's ears perked up in interest, listening to the low murmur.
"Conceal it somehow. It's too risky running around with it, where anyone could grab it and see."
She chewed her lip between her teeth. Did that voice sound familiar…?
Someone scoffed. "Conceal it how? How would we see it? Does that type of spell even exist?"
"Oh, like a password! A secret code."
"Sh," someone said sharply. "Someone will hear you."
The voices lowered somewhat, but still loud enough that she was still able to hear if concentrating on their conversation.
"But that would be brilliant. It'd have to be something clever."
"Well, which bloody spell does that?"
"We'd obviously have to do some research."
Someone groaned in response.
"We'll have to do it another time. I've got to get to Arithmancy."
Lily could hear the distinct sound of chairs being pushed about and realized it had to have been the table a row over behind her. They were collecting their books and bags to leave.
Hurriedly, she began pulling things from her own bag and spreading them out before her, hoping to make it look like she had not just been eavesdropping on their conversation. She slammed open her potions book, flipping to a random page.
She glanced up – almost surprisingly unsurprised to find sight of Remus revealing himself around the corner.
"Oh. Lily," he said startled, halting abruptly at the sight of her.
She smiled amiably, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she gestured to the books in front of her. "Hello, Remus. Thought I'd get started on work."
His wary look lessened somewhat, until, almost comically, the next of the group went to step around the bookshelf and walked into him.
"What's the hold up?" Black groused, before catching sight of Lily as well. "Oh."
Potter was just a step behind, eyes landing on her as soon as she was in his field of vision. "Evans," he acknowledged, Peter close behind him.
"Hello," she greeted, flipping a page in her book idly as she glanced between them.
The four looked conspicuously guilty and stood awkward for a long moment, as if caught, until Lily let her eyes fall onto the text in front of her.
Black seemed to be the first to recover, clearing his throat. "Well, I was just about to head to the kitchens for a pre-lunch snack." He clapped Peter on the shoulder hard, gripping him. "Let's go, Pete."
"I've got to get to class," Remus said apologetically. "We'll chat more on next patrols? About summer break."
"Sure," Lily responded evenly as she flipped another page. "Bye, Remus."
Potter remained. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Mind if I join you?" he asked after another long moment, shoving his hands into his pockets as he rolled on the balls of his feet. His chin jutted towards the empty chair across from her.
"I wouldn't be very good company, I'm afraid," she said, flipping another page and watching it float down.
"You could never be poor company, Evans," he said, sliding into the chair despite her tone.
She could sense his surprise when she did not immediately protest.
And maybe because she felt guilty about her earlier assumption ('I wondered if –' felt awfully close to 'if you wanted to meet later'), she did not stop him. He didn't speak yet though; just sat in a relaxed manner, pulling a hand out of his pocket to brush his hair out of his face. He grinned when he caught her gaze.
She cleared her throat and adjusted herself in her seat, leaning more closely to hunch over her book.
Still, he remained comfortably silent.
Lily watched him from beneath her lashes, observing as he studied the shelves around them, content with just sitting here. He shifted to lean more into his chair, his legs stretched out beneath the table, so close his feet almost touched hers.
"A charm," she murmured, when she couldn't take more silence.
He glanced at her curiously. "Sorry?"
She met his eyes for a moment, chewing on her lip before she let her gaze fall back to the pages in front of her.
"A charm," she repeated. "You know, magic – wave your wand, say a little something – most likely something of Latin origin." She glanced up in time to see him roll his eyes in amusement, a grin growing on his lips; a hint of the smile. A dimple was forming.
He propped himself on his elbows as he leaned closer. "Yes, and...?"
"What you all were talking about before," she said, boldly meeting his gaze. She inclined her head towards the way the four boys had come from before.
His brow furrowed before his manner turned mildly defensive, crossing his arms over his chest in a casual move. "We were talking about class."
"That didn't sound like you were talking about class," she commented passively, despite having just admitted she had been eavesdropping.
He didn't immediately deny her claim, but returned her look in a challenge. "And?"
She studied him studying her. She could just drop it. Move on. Curiosity bit at her heels though. "It sounds like a noncorporeal locking charm would probably work best – for whatever you were talking about for class."
His curious expression slid into a smirk. "For class," he agreed.
Lily gnawed on the inside of her cheek, fighting off her own smile. "For class," she repeated. Her fingers played with the pages of the book as she inexplicably continued. "To hide something by concealment, that's an easy spell. And then you could just un-do it with another spell; but you'd have to repeat the concealment charm each time, which will degrade the object. If you're trying to secure something so that other people can't access it, you can't just use a hex or a curse to repel them. That'll also backfire; ruin the object – which would kinda defeat the purpose, wouldn't it?"
He was observing her closely as he shifted forward in his seat.
"I've read a book before," she said when he didn't say anything, tracing her potion book's spine. "On how to use certain triggers to reveal information or secrets. Passwords, basically. The charm work is pretty simple. Just search for incorporeal locking charms."
The corner of his lips turned up. "Hiding something, Evans? A diary, perhaps?"
"Potter."
"Legit inquiry."
She scoffed in annoyance. "Merlin. I'm not a 1st Year, thanks."
"No. You're not," he agreed.
She narrowed eyes, but he was already moving to stand before she could give a withering response.
"I knew you wouldn't be bad company, Evans," he said wryly, leaning over the table to tap his fingers into the table once – twice.
She craned her neck to look towards his face, letting her eyes skim over his hair, his shoulders, his chest.
"See you later," he said and turned to leave.
She watched as his form disappeared between the library stacks, an unsettled feeling in her stomach. When has he become so…
She hadn't given Potter much thought out of loyalty, on behalf of Severus. Sometimes she wondered if Severus could sense her thoughts straying and would quickly reign any rogue feelings before he got swept into another tirade.
Sometimes it helped when Severus would be admitted to the hospital wing, having gone bald from a potion that had been slipped into his goblet at mornings breakfast mid-5th Year.
"It was them," he had hissed, scratching at his missing eyebrows. His gaze was rather disconcerting at the moment without eyelashes. "Those bloody –"
"Severus, there's no proof," she had replied tiredly, but knew it was them just the same as he.
Severus crossed his arms, angry.
And then his housemates had 'pranked' then 7th Year Mary McDonald, who was in the hospital for over a week.
"They hadn't meant it to go that far," Snape had tried to explain, as if he knew their intentions.
But regardless, Lily walked away thinking that being bald didn't really compare to being Imperio'd into jumping off the astronomy tower.
She shook herself and stood from the table, collecting her things quickly to leave.
-:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:-
Wednesday morning dawned early and bright; Lily groaned into her pillow as Alice shuffled about, opening and closing her trunk as she got ready.
"You might as well get up," Alice said. "Don't want to be late for History."
Lily released another groan, peering over her mountain of pillows to check Marlene's bed. "She's not even awake yet."
"She doesn't have class until half past nine. You've got class in thirty."
Lily rubbed at her eyes tiredly, stretching like a cat as she slunk off the bed. "Why'd we sign up for this class again?"
"You want to be an auror," Alice pointed out, combing through her short hair. "And… I'd been thinking about it, too."
"You have?" she paused to process, surprised. "You never mentioned."
"I'd just been thinking about it. Talking about it with Frank. His distant uncle is one, did you know? I met him when I visited during the holidays. It all seems... dangerous. Exciting."
"Right?" Lily said eagerly. "What does Frank think? Does he want to join the ministry, too?"
"I think he's heard more horror stories from Art – that's his uncle – so he seems a bit more… wary of it all."
She hummed in understanding. Yes, it seemed exciting. No, it did not seem glamorous. It was a job that obviously put one in danger and was not to be taken lightly. She felt a bit better knowing that one of her friends was considering becoming an Auror, too, though.
Lily grabbed a pair of clean clothes and headed into the bathroom to shower quickly, dressing in her normal manner.
"Is she still not awake?" she asked Alice, who had been kind enough to wait for her.
"'Course not."
"Marlene!" she called, picking her wand to magically toss a pillow at her sleeping friend.
"What?" the blonde snapped, the pillow having hit her straight in the face.
"We're going to be heading down to breakfast. Want to join?"
"No," Marlene scolded. "I'm going to sleep more. I'll see you guys at lunch."
"Alright, then," Alice said with a smirk. "Shall we get going?"
"Let's go," Lily laughed, grabbing her bag. As expected, Dorcas and Emmeline were already in the Great Hall.
"'Bout time you arrived. Where's Mckinnon?"
"Still sleeping," Lily said, slipping into a spot. "Doesn't have class till half past nine."
"Lucky cow," Dorcas complained. "My schedule is not all it chalked up to be at initial glance."
"You say that every year," Emmeline pointed out. "Maybe you just aren't a happy person."
"I'm a very happy person, thank you very much. There just isn't plenty to be happy about." The three other girls snorted, and Dorcas's look morphed into a glare. "Whatever." She grabbed a bowl of porridge. "Aren't you sitting with Frank this morning?"
"I'll see him at lunch," Alice said. "I thought I'd join you lot this morning."
"How kind," Lily teased, dishing up her own portion.
Later, when she and Alice entered the amphitheatre classroom from the door towards the front, they saw the room was nearly full, again mixed with a combination of houses to fulfill the class requirement.
Alice found her friend from Hufflepuff, Hunter, and departed from her side quickly, sitting in the second row. Lily scanned the rest of the room quickly, having spotted Mr. Binns float in through the wall.
"Class, be quiet," he intoned, settling in his place in front of the chalkboard. "It was the year of 1832, when the Respite of Spites occurred, and…"
She winced, ducking low to go unnoticed and crept towards the empty seat she spotted in the last row.
"My, my," James Potter said in amusement, as she slipped into the chair beside him. "Evans, late?"
She bit back a retort, focusing instead on pulling out her things.
"Hello, Lily," Remus said quietly from the other side of Potter.
"Hi, Remus," she replied with a smile. "I didn't realize you'd all be taking History."
"I didn't either," he replied. "Last minute choice." As if he'd been forced into it.
Lily leaned forward, catching sight of Black looking bored to death, leaned back in his chair. He grinned at her curious look. Peter was on his other side, ready to fall asleep, chin propped in his hand.
"Well, I've always found History exciting," Black inserted quietly.
Remus and Potter scoffed simultaneously.
Black feigned looking hurt. "I loved learning about the Battle of Arses in 509 B.C."
"That's Arsia," she corrected idly, rolling her eyes as she adjusted the notebook in front of her.
"Arses, Arsia," Black waved her off. "It's all fascinating."
Barely refraining from smiling, she focused on Binns's words as he droned on, revealing how the muggles had found out about the sprites, and believing them to be fairies, paid homage by sacrificing animals and crops.
"Fascinating," Potter repeated in a wry voice, catching Lily's eye.
She fought back a smile and covered by rolling her eyes.
The class continued on, Binns moving onto the Rache of the Sprites (part 2) when the muggles had begun to turn on the sprites and they reacted… rather badly.
Potter shifted again, moving forward to lean over the desk, resting his head against his hand as the other splayed out, mere inches away from her notebook where she scrawled lazy notes (more to stay awake, if anything, she'd never admit).
Lily looked at his expression from beneath her lashes to see if he had done it on purpose, but he remained just as relaxed as before; his eyes unfocused, mouth pulled into a near-pout as his palm smashed his right cheek where it was holding up his head.
She looked back down at her notes, scrawling another note to Binns's latest statement.
Potter began to drum his fingers against the table's surface, in no particular rhythm.
Again, she glanced from beneath her lashes, but his expression was neutral.
He continued to tap.
Her eyes fell to his hand, studying the tanned skin of his long, thin fingers as he drummed a pattern into the wood. She cleared her throat quietly to get his attention.
Tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap.
He showed no signs of hearing her, his rhythm becoming more intricate. She cleared her throat again. Nothing.
When the tapping reached a crescendo, Lily reached out and placed her hand over his, successfully ceasing the tapping.
Potter startled at her touch and met her eyes with surprise.
"This isn't History of Percussions," she whispered, immediately embarrassed by the corny pun. She hastily released his hand as he grinned, suddenly feeling hot around the collar.
"I thought Sirius only told bad jokes," he said, curling his fingers and pulling his hand towards himself.
She gave him a withering glare, turning back to her notes and her attention back onto the professor, suddenly feeling unmoored.
The professor dismissed them soon after and Lily moved to collect her things quickly, shoving the heavy book and notes into her book bag as she stood. Potter waited patiently beside her, having nothing to pack up.
She watched him from the corner of her eye suspiciously, waiting for him to speak, but he remained quiet, even pushing her chair in once she stepped away. He followed behind her shoulder, hands stuffed deep into his pockets, as they left the classroom behind Remus and Black, walking in silence to the Great Hall.
He even appeared to purposely slow his gait to keep pace with her as they followed the first floor corridor into the Entrance Hall.
Just when she thought she'd be able to escape without harm, he finally spoke. "I may need your help on that charm."
"I may need a little bit more information to help." Lily glanced up at him at the corner of her eye, steps faltering as they walked.
"If I tell you, I'll have to kill you," he said and she rolled her eyes at the overused idiom.
"I thought only Black told bad jokes," she said deadpanned. This surprisingly earned her a chuckle.
"We'll have to tell him he's got competition then."
"Please don't. He'll make it a thing."
He led her a little ways off from the Great Hall's doorway beside the Entrance Hall staircase where the curve of the railing created a small alcove. He turned towards her, smiling slightly.
Lily glanced around them, watching the stream of students move through the Entrance Hall. "I can't honestly say I'll actually be able to help you much with the spell. I know where the book is in the library that can help you, though."
"Brilliant," he said.
"I'll bring it to dinner," she said, already moving away from him, but paused as he shook his head.
"I won't be there. Quidditch practice."
"This is for class, right?"
"For class. Right."
There was an odd moment of thrill as Lily discerned that Potter knew she knew it was decidedly not for class. She turned away from him, stepping away from their spot beside the staircase towards the Great Hall.
"We'll work something out," she said, fixing to sound unaffected.
Potter nodded, quickening his steps to open the door to the Great Hall and allow her to enter first. She murmured her thanks and stepped through the door, catching sight of her friends nearby.
Dorcas was the first to catch sight of them, nudging Marlene's elbow to direct her attention. Objectively, she could see how strange the sight of her and Potter entering the Great Hall could seem, and as she walked towards her friends, she could still feel Potter's presence still over her shoulder.
"Hello," he said to her friends pleasantly, waiting for Lily to take her seat. She kept watching him out of the corner of her eye, expecting something.
"Hey, James," Marlene greeted in return, a perfect brow raised in curiosity. The other girls nodded their welcome, obviously just as suspicious.
"See you at practice," he said to Marlene, waving his goodbye. "Bye, Lily."
She watched from the corner of her eye as he continued further down to his own group of friends.
"Should I be concerned?" Marlene wondered aloud. "Has Lily been cursed?"
"Shut it," she said. "He just had a question about Charms."
"I'm pretty sure I didn't hear screaming or shouting," Dorcas teased, looking around at the rest of the group "Did I? Did you?"
Emmeline shook her head no, seemingly shocked as well.
"Shut up, please," Lily said, feeling her ears burn at the attention. "Mar, what time is practice tonight?"
Marlene studied at her a moment longer, but seemingly took pity. "Seven," she complained. "Barely enough time to eat."
The strange occurrence between her and Potter was luckily dropped at that, the conversation moving onto the latest happenings in class. Lily ate silently, still feeling off-center from the amicable conversation she'd had with Potter.
She parted ways from the group shortly after, having a free period before the rest of classes for the day, and decided to head towards the library to grab a list of books, including the one requested by Potter. The library had a few students milling about, including the librarian himself as he walked around, cleaning up books left behind.
Lily moved through the shelves in alphabetical order, pulling Spellman's Syllabary from the Ancient Runes sections, before moving onto the Charms section to find the book for Potter.
The book was still in the same spot she had placed it back years ago, running her hands over the gold binding. The book was medium sized, with a blue worn cover that looked nothing special.
Charms: Passwords, Secrets, and You.
"Lily."
She jumped violently at the sound of her name, knocking into the corner of the shelf and the two books in her hands fell to the floor.
She gave Severus a glare.
"Snape," she greeted with frosty politeness, strategically using his surname, before moving to pick up the books from the floor. When she stood to face him, she focused her gaze on a spot just above his shoulder to avoid his eyes, adjusting the books in her arms into a more comfortable position.
"We need to talk," he urged determinedly.
"There's nothing to talk about, Snape."
"There is, Lily," he insisted fervently and she involuntarily looked at his face. His expression was sincere, appearing agonized. "There's so much you just don't understand."
He took a step closer to her. Lily reflexively took one back.
"Please leave me alone," she said coldly, turning to cut around the shelves to escape him.
He grabbed her arm in an attempt to stop her. Her head snapped towards him sharply, glaring at the offensive hand. "Get your hands off of me."
Snape released her quickly, as if her words burned him. "Let me explain," he pleaded. "I had to –"
"Go to hell, Severus," she spat, turning sharply on her heel and hurrying out of the library to leave him behind. She didn't want to hear his excuses.
She was fortunate enough not to run into anyone on her way back to Gryffindor tower, but she clutched at the books in her arms for comfort as she skipped through the portrait's entrance and up to the girl's dormitory to calm herself before the rest of her afternoon classes.
Making the decision to skip dinner that night was easy, feigning a stomach ache and the 'need' to study.
Emmeline and Dorcas, who had come to visit her after dinner, decisively decided not to bother her once they had sensed her poor mood, leaving her be in the dormitory as they escaped back down to the common room. Emmeline was kind enough to bring her some dinner rolls for her 'upset' stomach and left her to be as well.
Marlene did not return to the dormitory until after Lily was curled up in bed, willing herself to sleep.
"Are you okay?" her friend whispered, kneeling by her bed, still in her Quidditch practice robes. "You're in bed a lot sooner than normal."
"I'm fine," Lily replied. She pointed at her friend's face. "You got muck on your face and hair. It's a good look."
"I'm thinking about keeping it. Thought I'd try out being a brunette."
"Did Em or Dorcas say something?"
Marlene nodded. "They said you were upset."
"I'm alright," Lily insisted sincerely. "Go take a shower. You stink."
"I'm going, I'm going," she groused, leaving her side to head towards the loo.
Lily rolled over and pushed further into the pillows, resolutely putting Severus out of her brain and allowing sleep in.
