Chapter 14: Unreachable

Both Severus and Lily had been gasping for air by the time they reached the astronomy tower, both of their cheeks were flushed from running the whole way without stopping to make sure that James wasn't on their tail.

"That… was crazy… we ran… all the way-" Lily said, in between labored breaths, she was gasping for air so much she couldn't finish her sentence.

"I know! I just threw a dungbomb at Potter!" Severus beamed, clearly ecstatic over what he just did while laughing and gasping for air at the same time. He was sitting on the floor, his knees bent to his chest and his arms laid over his knees. His legs had given up on him as soon as they arrived at the astronomy tower. "If I told myself in the previous timeline, he can chuck a dungbomb at Potter, he'd probably scour at me and tell me not to joke around." Severus mumbled to himself.

"What was that?" Lily asked, after composing herself while holding unto the railings.

"Nothing. At least we got here without Potter on our tail. The pest always seems to know where we are, peskier than a pixy if you ask me." Severus said, trying to change the subject.

'And I've had to deal with a whole colony after the incident with Lockhart.' Severus thought to himself, rolling his eyes as he recalls the day he had to get Neville Longbottom off the chandelier.

"Tell me about it." Lily said, swinging her head side-to-side while chuckling at the many times how they were always interrupted by James for some unknown reason.

Lily walks over to Severus and lays next to him flat on the floor, her limbs sprawled out like a star. She liked how the cold concrete castle floor cooled her back after sweating so much from all that running.

"Can't believe you made me run in a dress." Lily said, pouting at Severus who glanced at her. Severus chuckled at her attempts of teasing him.

"Would you have preferred I carried you the whole way? Between you and me, I feel like you'd be the one carrying me bridal style." Severus teased.

Lily lightly hit him over the head causing Severus' hair to sprawl all over his face. Severus laughed at her while she tsked at him, he laid next to her to cool his own back.

"Did you get the butterbeer though?" Lily asked, realizing her sudden thirst after cooling herself down.

"Of course, I did. Almost dropped it though when I saw Potter getting too close to you, luckily this costume's pockets have an undetectable extension charm." Severus said, reaching over his coat pockets to pull out two bottled butterbeers. "We have Iris to thank for that, plus the dungbomb she gave me after winning some sort of party game. Almost threw it out but luckily, I hadn't." Severus said, as he handed the butterbeer to Lily after opening it for her.

Lily stared at the bottle Severus handed over to her, taking a sip and letting the taste of the drink settle in her mouth for a while and feeling the cool breeze pass them before she spoke.

"It's like she knows everything." Lily jokingly said.

Severus choked on his butterbeer causing him to cough uncontrollably.

"Now that you mention it…" Severus weakly said, his eyes travelling warily around them just to see if he could spot her.

'STOP SPYING ON ME!' Severus yelled in his head just in case Iris was spying on them, but seeing as that there was no reply it made Severus relax a bit, just a bit.

Lily watched Severus' reactions to Iris' name and until now it slightly put her off, yet at the same time she didn't understand why she felt that way for her friend and for Severus out of all people. It confused her so much it made her head ache. Lily didn't know what she was currently feeling now, but she'll just have to find out later.

There were far more important things she needed to talk about with Severus and now was the perfect time.

"You know, ever since she arrived you've changed so much… and so suddenly." Lily said, a solemn look on her face. Severus turned to her as she spoke, catching Lily off guard as a sudden wave of embarrassment washed over her.

"Not that I'm saying it's bad, in fact it's good- great even! It's just-" Lily stopped, she fumbled within her mind to try and find the right words so that she wouldn't mess up like how she did in their previous fight.

"Just?" Severus asked, trying to help her coax the words out of her mouth.

"It's just… It feels like you're so far away, in such a short amount of time. Although I know I don't have the right to say this, especially how I've treated our friendship these past few years… You've made that 'especially' clear in our previous argument." Lily said, her eyes squinting slightly as she spoke. A pain cindered within her as she recalled the times she had treated him like an outcast without ever trying to understand his point of view. Severus sported a similar look in his eyes as he was reminded of how ugly their argument was, until now Severus still thinks that he could have handled that situation far better than he had.

As both teenagers were cringing at themselves over what had happened between them in the past. Lily kept staring at the marble floor, she couldn't find it within herself to say all this while looking at Severus. She didn't know how he'd react and she knew if she would look at him now, even the slightest change in his face could make her chicken out.

"I feel like you're someone completely different. It's like I don't know you anymore and yet I know I should, but I don't. I feel ashamed for it, because we're supposed to be best friends and yet you suddenly feel like a stranger to me." Lily continued, she felt embarrassed, telling him all of her insecurities. As of the moment, Lily currently wanted the concrete floor to swallow her whole.

The silence that followed was nerve-wracking for Lily as she waited for Severus to say something or anything at all. She didn't know how he'd react, whether he'd grumble or explode like how he usually did whenever she'd want to talk about things that she felt would compromise their friendship. Lily braced herself for it, whatever it was.

"I see." Severus responded calmly, laying down on the marble floor with a hand resting under his head acting like a cushion. "Well, I don't blame you. I feel like I don't even know myself anymore."

Lily finally turned to look at him, her expression both relieved and surprised at his reply. She thought he would explode while beginning to aggressively defend himself, but he didn't.

Severus caught Lily staring at him wide eyed. Now it was his turn to look away from her in embarrassment. Opting to ogle the metal frame of the large telescope above them.

"What I mean to say is… I myself, feel like a whole different person. I've just-" Severus cut himself off, trying to find the right words to explain his situation without giving out anything that could compromise what had really happened to him.

"Just?" Lily asked, now it was her turn trying to help Severus coax the words out of his mouth.

"I've just… been through a lot… and I realized a lot of things." Severus slowly said, trying to sound as inconspicuous as wizardly possible. "One of which was that I… didn't want to lose you." Severus said, still refusing to look at Lily as he spoke.

'Again.' Severus thought to himself.

Severus didn't know, but those simple words were enough to cut the air from Lily's lungs. Lily held her breath as she waited for Severus to continue talking.

"By going with that thought, it helped me see that walking a path that wanted to… 'end' your line of wizards and witches, wasn't worth following through. Even if the promise of power was given to me. That day I realized I was in the wrong… it felt like I had gone through decades of torment." Severus finally looked back at Lily, and Lily could see the pain in his eyes. It was as if his face had aged in years at that moment. As if she saw a mature man who had gone through life and was just waiting for death at that point. Lily reached a hand to cup Severus' face.

"Sev… Why are you talking as if you've already lost me? When I'm right here." Lily said, while giving him a smile.

Lily's question alone made Severus want to hold her while he screamed in agony, like he did the night when he heard the news she died in Godric's Hollow. Severus clenched his teeth, refusing to allow the tears to fall from his face.

'I already have.' Severus thought to himself. "I almost did." Severus replied to Lily.

"But you didn't." Lily replied, in a sing-song voice. "You couldn't lose me even if you outwardly tried to push me away." Lily said with a confident huff.

"Doubt that." Severus said, giving Lily a weak smile.

"You're stuck with meeeee…. 'foreverrrr'." Lily said, in a spooky voice as if the thought of being stuck with her to the hip was a nightmare. But internally, both teens wouldn't mind the thought of such a thing happening.

Just then, Lily thought of something far better to say in order to tease Severus.

"But you know, just a food for thought. If you 'actually' made me hate you for life, I would date Potter just to spite you." Lily evilly smirked at Severus, who abruptly looked at her with bewilderment.

"What?" Severus asked, dumbfounded by what Lily just said.

"You heard me. Women can be very petty beings you know, we can hold a grudge for a lifetime." Lily said, a smug look on her face as she lifted her nose in the air. "And with that in mind, don't make me hate you." Lily said, slapping Severus' knee as she got up to leave the tower first before Filch could find them. Lily held in a chuckle, as she could hear Severus babble for words.

"No no no, wait, come back here. I need you to say that again for me." Severus said, standing to catch up to her.

"Already said it once, I won't say it again. I might end up manifesting it." Lily said, playfully rolling her eyes as she fast walked so that Severus wouldn't catch up to her.

"There was lint in my ears I couldn't hear you!" Severus excused, trying to jog up to her.

'I just need to hear you to say it again because it would answer a lot of things for me.' Severus thought to himself.

"You're going to have to catch me." Lily said, while playfully sticking her tongue out at him as she also began to jog further away from him.

"If I recall, for tonight I am Dracula and you are my wife! You're supposed to obey me!" Severus said, as he began sprinting towards her.

"That's sexist of you Sev, I thought I taught you better!" Lily said, practically cackling at that point as they playfully chased each other through the corridors.

Arianrhod, who had escaped the party and transformed into her Deity form to spy on the two teens on the astronomy tower, was visibly happy with the turn of events.

"Who knew that a grudge could lead to marriage and a prophecy child? This little girl is a ball of fire." Arianrhod chuckled to herself, as she watched the two chase each other out of the astronomy tower.

Arianrhod was so satisfied with herself and her work that she decided that one round of patrolling Hogwarts was enough and she could sleep peacefully in the dorms right after. But as she briefly extended her all sight throughout Hogwarts a few students, who were once again trying to escape into the Forbidden Forest, caught her attention. The same students whom she had followed from the night before, Rosier and Mulciber.

"Ugh these two again. I'm sure they're not an immediate threat to Viper… But if I don't listen in on their conversations, I won't know what's coming." Arianrhod thought while groveling. "Better to just follow them. Damn I wish I had smuggled more elixirs." Arianrhod tsked, as she followed the two students through the same path they took when they first escaped Hogwarts into the Forbidden Forest.

Arianrhod had followed them as the two boys walked through the forest for a good 15 minutes before they arrived at what seems to be their usual spot when recruiting or discussing about the death eaters' organization. The hideout was inside a large dying oak tree, its tree trunk was hollow and its roots opened into a wide and large cavity beneath the tree, creating a den big enough for people gather. Its entrance hidden by thick brush.

'I wonder who's the poor bastard who accidentally fell into this place and just decided to call it a hideout.' Arianrhod thought to herself, as she watched the two boys make an effort to go down into the den.

Arianrhod fused within the shadows around them in order to follow them more discreetly. With this she could listen in on the conversation without having to exert any magical effort in order to become unseen, as she and the darkness are one.

After carefully climbing down the rickety ladder, a dusty curtain covered the room beyond them. Flickers of candlelight could be seen fleeting out from behind the curtain from time to time. Mulciber pushed the curtain aside, from within the room various hooded Slytherins were inside, most of them were seniors. While a round wooden table sat in the middle of the den.

"You're late." Avery said, as the two teens entered the makeshift room. Avery stood in the center of the room over the round table. A map of Hogwarts and various parchment of student information and background of Slytherin first years were scattered all over the table.

"Don't blame us, Filch suddenly decided to prowl the dungeons first this time rather than go his usual route." Mulciber excused. "Anyway, it's not like there's anything important to discuss this time around again, is there? We're just going to discuss which of the first years we're going to rope in, right? It's the same as always." Mulciber lamely said, rolling his eyes as he spoke. Clearly bored of repeating the same process over and over again.

"Excuses aren't tolerable in our cause, boy." An eerie feminine voice replied, from the shadows.

This caused Mulciber and Rosier to flinch, their backs straightening as they realize that they had an important guest joining them, Bellatrix Lestrange.

Arianrhod was immediately alarmed by this turn of events, it even irked her more that she had not immediately noticed Bellatrix's deathly aura.

The boys meeting up in this hiding spot was usually being used when Avery's father would send out little details about the organization's plans and progress as well as encouraging them to recruit more people into their cause. But having Bellatrix in the picture meant that something was definitely going to happen very soon.

"You speak as if what you're doing is… unimportant?" Bellatrix said, tilting her head as if she was very confused. Suddenly Bellatrix bent over and began to chuckle. "He he he… WRONG!" Bellatrix yelled, throwing a dagger at Mulciber and Avery who dodged it just in time as it passed between them and wedged itself into the dead root behind them. The dagger's impact was so strong, a loud sickening crunch echoed throughout the room as if it were the sound of bones breaking.

"You shrimps should be PROUD that you're working for the Dark Lord! No matter how small your assignments." Bellatrix said, as she yelled at all of them. Her dark crazed eyes staring deep into them. The children were absolutely rigid, terrified that if they were to even so much as make a peep another dagger would come flying into their direction.

"We are serving a great cause; we are cleansing the wizarding world of filth as an era of the true pure arise!" Bellatrix continued to say. Suddenly she became silent and lifted a hand up in the air as if she just recalled something. "But even filth… have their diamonds… Where is Severus?" Bellatrix asked, looking back at Mulciber and Rosier, who flinched as a glint in her eyes shown.

"Little Avery Jr.'s daddy tells me that the two of you are specifically assigned to bring him BACK." Bellatrix said, while putting an arm over Avery's shoulders. Avery flinched upon their contact. Bellatrix cocked an eyebrow at the two boys as she began to search the empty space around them. "Now where is he?" Bellatrix asked, in a giggly and excited voice.

When neither Mulciber nor Rosier could give her a reply, Bellatrix immediately walks over to them and suddenly grabs both of their faces. Her fingernails digging into the flesh of their cheeks.

"You useless gits." Bellatrix gravely said, through greeted teeth, grinding them so hard both Mulciber and Rosier could hear it. "You lot have one job… ONE." Bellatrix emphasized, pushing both teens into the dirt wall. "You can't even recruit as much children as you used to these days, now you can't even convince one boy to come back? And he was the most eager out of ALL OF YOU!" Bellatrix said, in a dark voice, yelling out the last words so that the rest of the children in the den could hear it.

"But... He's changed, he says he doesn't want to do it anymore!" Mulciber desperately said, his eyes squinting in pain as he could feel Bellatrix's fingers physically forcing his jaw open.

"And what makes you think that changes anything?" Bellatrix asked gravely.

Throwing the two boys aside, Bellatrix pulls the dagger out of the root without a problem. Walking up to Mulciber, she points it directly under his chin.

"You may think that just because your daddy and the Dark Lord have history, means that you could slack off. But no… between you and me-" Bellatrix begins to slide the dagger's tip down Mulciber's throat, stopping at the apple. "-I could care less whose bloody balls you come from." Bellatrix threatened, her eyes wide and dark as she stared into Mulciber's soul. "If I find you lot useless and wasting the Dark Lord's time, I'll maul you far worse than I do to mudbloods." Bellatrix finalized, nicking the skin of Mulciber's neck as she did.

Mulciber winced and immediately held his wound to stop it from bleeding, but even that tiny nick was enough for the blood to slowly seep out of his fingers..

"Let this be a reminder to you… No. To all of you." Bellatrix then turned towards the rest of the students who were watching them. "If you mess this up, there are wounds far more difficult to heal than a nick in the neck." Bellatrix warned, licking the blood off the tip of the dagger.

Bellatrix then walks off towards the curtain and pushes it aside to leave.

"One more thing boys." Bellatrix said, her singsong voice having returned to say a few final words before she left. "The next time I come around here, I want to see more people, ESPECIALLY Severus Snape. I may not trust that boy from the moment I laid eyes on him. But whatever the Dark Lord wants, we shall serve on a platter without question. Are we clear?" Bellatrix instructed, tilting her head back to give a good and final look at them. Once all of them nodded their heads, Bellatrix left. Leaving the children in fear and an unsettling silence followed.

'The situation has turned unnerving, we've dilly dallied for so long.' Arianrhod thought to herself, as she left the den to get back to Hogwarts.

'I must make sure Severus is too far for them to even reach.'

The next morning, in the great hall. While Severus was busy reading the daily prophet a figure had sat down in front of him. Thinking that this was Iris, Severus didn't even bother to look up from what he was reading.

"Just because we haven't spoken in a while you've become completely rude again." Regulus said, as he began to make a plate for himself.

"Regulus… Didn't see you there, but as you can plainly see, I am busy reading what goes on in the wizarding world." Severus said, still not attempting to look up from what he was reading.

"No shit, Merlin." Regulus replied, rolling his eyes at Severus.

Severus made an exaggerated gasp, yet still wouldn't look up from what he was reading. For some reason, the article he was reading captivated him.

"Dear me, do my ears deceive me? Is the great and noble Regulus Black using such profane words? Merlin must have mastered necromancy and has risen himself from the dead." Severus exaggerated, bringing a hand to his chest. But a coy smile played on his lips when he finally glanced at the boy in front of him.

Regulus chortled at their banter, grabbing a jar of jam from Severus' side of the table.

"If you're reading a page written by a witch named Rita Skeeter, I suggest you trash the whole page. Mother tells me she thrives on writing hogwash." Regulus said, as he began to spread a bit of the jam on the slice of bread he was holding.

Regulus didn't need to tell Severus twice. Severus began to have flashbacks of Rita's annoying habit of following him around the school when he was a professor. Yet even when he completely avoided Rita, for some unknown reason what he'd mutter behind closed doors would always end up on the paper the next morning. Looking up the corner of the page he was currently reading, Severus immediately searched for Rita's name and soon enough there it was. She had actually written the three pages that Severus had just read and immediately took them out of the pile to crumple them up.

'Damn woman, she may write hogwash but she's good at making you want to read the damn thing until the end.' Severus thought himself.

Regulus, seeing Severus' action caused a smirk on his face as he watched the pale boy begin to scour the next remaining pages for Rita's name.

"By the way, care to join me tonight to visit the house elves?" Regulus asked, taking a small bite from the corner of the bread.

"Of course, I have a few extra knee balms remaining, it would be good to use them all so as to not let it go to waste." Severus agreed, internally smiling at the thought that he finally had Regulus where he wanted him.

Although Regulus still occasionally joins the usual group, but slowly through the days Regulus would find ways to avoid them all together.

"Alright then, I shall see you this evening in the kitchen at the same time as last, yes?" Regulus asked, earning a nod from Severus.

After finishing his meal, Regulus got up to leave but said a few final words to Severus before he did.

"Kreacher wrote back to me after I sent the knee balm you gave. He told me how pleased he was with its effects. Kreacher sends his regards." Regulus said, finally leaving before Severus could utter a reply.

But before Severus could go back to reading, another figure had sat down in front of him. Looking up Severus saw Iris.

Severus was about to say something that would lead to a retort back from Iris. But Severus stopped as soon as he saw Iris' expression, grim and uncertain.

"Are you alr-" Severus was about to ask.

"We've been playing around for too long." Iris said, without missing a bit.

This caused Severus to stiffened, something had clearly happened to set Iris off.

"What did you find out? And where?" Severus immediately asked.

"In the previous timeline was there ever a secret hideout for the Slytherins to gather hidden in the Forbidden Forest?" Iris quietly asked Severus. Severus was even more confused by Iris' question.

"Not that I can recall." Severus said, hesitantly.

Trying his best to recall if there was ever a time that there was a secret hideout where they gathered in while they were students. But apart from the occasional dungeon or empty classroom there was nothing else that Severus could call as a secret hideout.

"Heaven's gates… you were kept from it in the previous timeline, I see." Iris said, putting finger to her chin to think.

"Why? What is going on-" Severus wanted to know more, but Iris shushed him.

"Not here. We should go elsewhere." Iris said, looking around her warily. Severus only nodded his head in reply but immediately followed her as they walked out of the great hall.

Severus followed Iris until they had reached the owlery. Making sure that no one was in the building, Iris then stopped time so that the two of them could talk privately.

"Last night…" Iris began to say, detailing out everything that she had witnessed and what was said in that meeting. Leaving out the details of her spying on Severus and Lily.

Listening to what Iris said made a shiver run down Severus' back, and this time it wasn't because of the brewing winter air.

"I must have stood out too much in this timeline." Severus said, his mind racking with thoughts. "This has never happened in the previous timeline, nor have I ever been given such attention. Had I've been my old self I would have been so ecstatic I could scream like a little girl… But now… I just want to hide in a hole." Severus said, sighing heavily as he walked to a stool and sat on it. Bringing his hand up to massage the bridge of his nose.

"Don't worry, I've thought about it." Iris reassured, earning a look from Severus. "You just need to be unreachable to them… but it would cost you to garner even more attention in return." Iris hesitantly said, causing Severus to groan even more. "But think about it this way, Viper. If you are so known that no one could touch you, they wouldn't even be able to lay a finger on you without worrying if anyone would notice your absence or suspect them of their plans."

"Are you suggesting…" Severus looked up at Iris, trying to see if he was thinking exactly what she was thinking.

"Yes." Iris nodded at Severus, confirming his thoughts. "You have to make the wolfsbane potion as soon as you can and patent it. That way, with so much attention you would have gathered even if they would think to take you by force, they wouldn't be able to do so very easily. You would be too known and too popular by then, a disappearance like yours would alarm the whole wizarding world. If I know Tom any better, nothing irks him more than the subtlety of his plans being ruined before the big bang." Iris explained.

As easy as it sounds, Severus knew that it wasn't going to be a walk in the park. But rather-

'It's like a walk in the Forbidden Forest!' Severus internally screamed.

"I know." Iris responded to Severus' thoughts.

"There is still a chance this would make me an even bigger target, especially for Fenrir Greyback. I would be his biggest obstacle to creating his werewolf army." Severus said, taking a gulp of saliva in his nervous state as he recalls Greyback's insatiable hunger for flesh, even if he wasn't a werewolf controlled by the full moon.

"I am aware." Iris simply replied.

"If you're aware, then why propose such an idea in the first place?" Severus questioned Iris in an annoyed tone, standing up to walk over to her.

"Because it is the most logical one at this moment." Iris answered, making Severus silent as he waited for her to elaborate. "I'd rather you become unreachable through fame in both in the school and in the wizarding world, than to be just any normal student that anyone could just suddenly grab and take away at any moment." Iris said, turning to look out the window. "You must recall, Viper. I am not as capable as I wish to be at the moment." Iris said in a grave manner. "Unless you are in a perilous situation… that would be the only time I will ever extend myself so much that I would risk exposing my presence. But in the first place… we must avoid reaching up to that point at all cost. Humans do say that prevention is far better than a cure." Iris finalized.

Severus could only stare hard at Iris. He was fully aware that what she was saying made absolute sense. It was the dreaded feeling that, something could still go badly wrong, was what was making him hesitate. But even Severus was aware that he didn't have much of a choice at the moment.

"Alright… I'll do it as soon as I can. But I'll need time and I've already agreed to meet up with Regulus tonight. So, I'll start gathering ingredients for wolfsbane tomorrow-" Severus tried to say, but Iris cut him off.

"No need." Iris said, catching Severus off guard.

"What do you mean, 'no need'?" Severus asked, cocking a confused eyebrow at Iris.

Iris looked back at Severus, and only then could Severus see the exhaustion in her eyes. Iris' skin looked like it was turning into old parchment that was beginning to tear at the seams.

"I've already gathered as much and as many ingredients as I could for you, they're in your trunk… But I'll be away for a while." Iris said, her eyes drooping down as she spoke.

"What do you mean you'll be away for a while?" Severus asked, the feeling of dread growing ever more.

"I won't permanently leave you, Viper." Iris reassured Severus. "But there's something I need to get for myself if I wish to continue staying in this form. Although my travel will be very perilous… and absolutely risky. But trust me when I tell you, that I will come back for you." Iris promised Severus.

Severus could only nod in reply. There were many times that Severus wished that Iris could just leave him alone even for a few moments out of annoyance. But now that it was happening and at such an uncertain time, Severus was beginning to feel very terrified.

Iris could sense Severus' uncertainty brewing in his mind and heart. Raising her fingers up, Iris lightly tapped his chest. Suddenly Severus felt exceptionally calm at the moment and his mind was clear.

"That was for good luck while I'm gone." Iris said, with a smile on her face.

"But what will I tell the others while you're gone?" Severus asked.

"Not to worry, Viper. I've already warped their minds while you and I were conversing just now. Everyone thinks that I've been called for important heiress matters and will be back shortly… But yes, doing that at the same time has made me very tired." Iris admitted, giving a heavy and exhausting sigh.

"Remember to do your part while I'm gone. Before you know it, I'll be back before you'll even start to miss me." Iris said, a cheeky smile on her face.

Severus was about to say more, but as soon as he blinked Severus found himself back in the great hall holding the daily prophet.

'Damn, hate it when she does that.' Severus thought to himself.

Severus stood up to leave for class, but just as he was about to leave the great hall someone had called out to him.

"Sev!" Lily yelled out, running after him. While she was struggling to carry all of her books in her arms. "Are you heading to Potions class now?" Lily asked Severus.

"Yes, would you like to walk together?" Severus asked. Lily fervently nodded.

As the two walked towards their first class, they began to start chatting about Professor Slughorn.

"-although you could tell that Slughorn may have favoritism in students, you can't deny that he does pick the right students for the slug club." Lily said.

"That may be so, but he still needs to work on how obvious he makes it seem that he's just doing this for boasting material if ever the witches or wizards in his slug club could one day be famous." Severus replied.

'That would most likely include me in that list of his very soon.' Severus thought to himself, as a sudden wave of exhaustion hit him as he realized how much more he'd be pranced around like a prized bird not only by Lucius but also by Professor Slughorn.

"Well, you're not wrong there." Lily giggled, as soon as she heard that Iris had left Hogwarts for a short amount of time, she knew that it was the perfect opportunity to catch up with Severus without Iris being coy or butting in on them at the most opportune time.

'I have to make these days count.' Lily thought to herself, huffing in motivation.

While Lily was pumping herself up with confidence, Severus was staring at Lily with admiration for a while. Ever since their talk at the astronomy tower, things have felt different between them, even lighter. Suddenly a great idea popped into Severus' head.

"Lily!" Severus yelled out, causing the poor red head to squeak in surprise as he grabs her shoulders in excitement of his idea.

"Yes?" Lily hesitantly replied, confusion bubbled her head as she saw Severus' expression as if she could see a light bulb on top of him.

"You're just as good as brewing potions as I am right?" Severus asked.

"But not as talented as you are though-" Lily replied.

"But still just as skillful, yes?" Severus further asked for reassurance. Lily nodded.

"Would you like to make history with me?" Severus enthusiastically asked, this sentence made Lily's face turn as red as a tomato.

"W- wait, w-what do you mean by tha-" Lily stuttered, struggling to accumulate a good sentence as thoughts and ideas rushed in her head at the thought of 'making history together' with Severus.

"How would you like to cocreate a potion that could relieve the symptoms of lycanthropy with me?" Severus fervently asked Lily.

"Wait, what?" Lily asked, her expression ranging from confusion to surprise and finally, disbelief.