Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Severus and Lily held hands once more as they rode the Hogwarts Express back to the castle for their fourth year of magical education.
Things were different that term.
The majority of Severus's friends had graduated, which had indeed left him alone against the Marauders whenever Lily was not by his side.
As the school year went on, it pained him to notice that she became too preoccupied to notice much about any happenings in the castle, even with herself.
The Gryffindor girls who claimed to be her friends gossiped about her behind her back in hateful whispers.
Severus saw Lily walk right past them once with her eyes wide and her expression sullen as if she were in a trance.
Although the girls clearly said her name in their wicked snickers, Lily didn't so much as cast them a sideways glare.
Severus's only solace came from the pleasant conversations he shared with Lily and from the deep, meaningful kisses that she lavished upon him whenever they found a private corner of the castle away from teachers and prefects' prying eyes.
"Lily….." Severus whispered breathlessly against her lips one evening before dinner while they clung to each other in a section of the abandoned storage room, high at the top of the castle.
"Yeah, Sev?" Lily asked as she stared at him with her green eyes burning like two flaming emeralds.
"...When are you going to tell me what's going on?" He asked with a frown.
Lily's hands were on his chest.
Her fingers clutched his robes.
She tightened her grip as she laughed and looked down.
He felt her twist her hips as he loosened his hold on her waist.
"Nothing's going on, Sev!" Lily said with a giggle as she gave him a bright smile and stared into his eyes.
Severus frowned in response.
"You wound me with your lies, Lily." He murmured to her in a voice barely above a whisper.
She had no intentions of ending their snogging session, but Severus threw her an injured frown before he pulled away from her entirely and left their cozy hideaway.
Lily frowned after him as she watched him go, but she stayed there, perfectly still, until she could no longer hear his receding footsteps.
When she knew she was alone, she raised her hands to her face and covered her mouth to muffle the strangled sob that escaped her lips.
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Besides Lily, Severus's other interests were in education and learning.
He had a great aptitude for potions, but the study of the Dark Arts, which he easily disguised as an intrigue in defence against them, was what really sparked his curiosity.
Severus had already learned a large number of curses from his mother and family friends before he had ever set foot at Hogwarts.
By the time he had aged to nearly fifteen, his knowledge had grown and the Marauders' vicious attacks inspired him to formulate his own weapon.
Through careful study of Latin roots, calculated trajectory of curse impact, and a huge amount of educated guessing based on similar enchantments, Severus armed himself with a new, secret safeguard against James Potter and his band of miscreants.
He waited patiently to test out his invention.
Severus knew that an appropriate moment would come soon.
James had continued his unreturned interest in Lily.
As a result, James's hatred of Severus had seemed to increase every time he saw them together as they chatted, snogged, or walked hand in hand.
One afternoon, before his last class of the day, Severus washed his hands in the lavatory until he heard the sound of footsteps enter the room behind him.
Although his heart raced anxiously in a learned response to the trauma that James Potter had already caused him, he forced himself to stay calm as he dried his hands and turned around.
Adrenaline flooded his system when he saw that the Marauders blocked his exit.
"Hello, Snivelly." James greeted Severus with a scornful sneer as Sirius, Remus, and Peter all stood behind him.
Their chorus of dark chuckles gnawed at Severus's nerves while he faced his enemies with a scowl.
He showed real talent as he hid his fear and cooly replied, "Potter……..what an unpleasant occurrence to see you this afternoon…..If you and your group of rabble-rousers will move aside, I'll leave the four of you to enjoy the lavatory on your own."
"What does she taste like, Snivelly?" James asked.
"...What?" Severus replied as his pale face narrowed in an angry scowl.
"Evans!" James barked, "I asked you a question, Snivelly! What does it taste like when you put your ugly, thin lips on hers?!"
The smirks on the Marauders' faces died away as James swiftly pulled out his wand.
Prepared to defend himself, Severus reached for his own, but James blasted his wand out of his hand with one flourish of his wrist as he cried, "EXPELLIARMUS!"
Sirius, Peter, and Remus all laughed while Severus's dark eyes widened as the last bit of colour drained from his face while his wand skittered across the lavatory floor.
"...Don't look so scared, Snivelly." James grinned in wicked triumph.
"I'm not scared of you, Potter!" Severus hissed while his heart pounded in his ears from abject terror.
"I just want you to tell me one more thing….." James said with an arrogant smirk as he threateningly pointed his wand at Severus.
Severus grit his teeth.
"What could Evans possibly see in a greasy-haired bastard like you?" James asked with a hateful snarl.
As Severus watched James pull his arm back, he knew before he ever opened his mouth that he intended to strike.
Tension filled the air as Severus jumped out of the way the instant that James shouted, "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"
James's curse hit the wall behind Severus as he scrambled over to his wand.
Severus managed to lift his wand from the tile floor, whirl around, and face James before his enemy could fire again.
He focused his rage and hatred into his magic as he stared at the cocky sneer on James Potter's face while he shouted, "SECTUMSEMPRA!"
Dazed and disoriented, Severus's aim wasn't at its best.
The curse flew from the tip of his wand and cut a decent, but far from serious, gash across James's perfectly tanned cheek.
Severus watched James's eyes widen in surprise as the curse slit his skin.
A combination of pain and shock overtook his features as he lifted a hand to his face.
A small spray of blood had splashed onto the stone wall.
The violent display earned gasps from the Marauders as James pulled his hand away from his cheek and stared down at the blood on his fingers.
He gaped at Severus as he exclaimed, "You…..You cut me!"
"Count yourself fortunate that my curse only managed to catch your cheek, Potter." Severus glowered coldly, "...,.Heckle me again and a more serious wound may be opened elsewhere."
Sirius, Remus, and Peter took a step back once they heard Severus's intimidating threat.
James didn't dare show any fear, but as he pressed a hand to his bleeding cheek, he chose not to brandish his wand at Severus again.
Instead, he ended their confrontation for the day.
"Come on, Sirius, Peter, Remus…...I've got to get a bandage for my face before I stain my collar! Let's go!" He huffed as he turned around.
"Yes, show off that Gryffindor bravery, Potter, and run away!" Severus roared as he heard the Marauders grumbling about him while they left the bathroom.
"We'll see what the headmaster has to say about your new curse, Snivelly!" James shouted back from the lavatory's entrance.
As Severus walked over to gather his books that he had laid on the side of the sink, he pondered the previous moments.
His curse had worked!
In his fourth year at Hogwarts, Severus had successfully invented a curse that could efficiently arm a witch or wizard against a threat.
He could teach it to his mother.
He could use it against his father during those dreadful nights that alcohol erased Tobias's humanity.
Severus had achieved several victories that afternoon.
He kept reminding himself of that in an attempt to calm the uncontrollable trembling of his limbs while he left the lavatory and walked down the hallway.
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Throughout the class period that followed, the Marauders glared ominously at Severus, but he ignored them as Professor Slughorn jovially gave his Potions lecture.
Severus had larger issues on his mind than James and his cronies.
He had noticed as soon as he had walked into the room that Lily was absent.
He had seen her at lunch in the Great Hall less than thirty minutes ago, where could she possibly have gone?
Throughout the lesson, Severus shifted nervously in his seat.
He barely heard Slughorn's voice as his mind raced furiously while he fretted over his darling flower.
By the end of the period, he could no longer withstand his own aggravated suspense.
As the rest of the students filed out of the dungeon door, Severus walked up to his professor and implored him, "Sir…….I was wondering if I might ask for your help? I'm gravely concerned."
"Severus, my boy!" Slughorn nodded as he looked up from his cauldron with a smile on his face, "Goodness! What's made you so upset?!"
Horace Slughorn was always willing to help his favourite students.
In Potions especially, Severus was practically a prodigy.
"Well…….did...did you notice, sir, that Lily Evans was absent from your class today?" He asked with a frown.
"I did, yes." Slughorn nodded.
"Why did you not mention anything about it?" Severus frowned, "I saw her at lunch a short while ago…..What if something terrible happened to her?...What if she's fallen ill?!"
"Something terrible did happen to her, my boy." Slughorn nodded. Severus's dark eyes narrowed as he went on, "I received news from McGonagall in the moments before class started today that Miss Evans had been taken from the Great Hall and placed in the Hospital Wing under Madam Pomfrey's care. It's my understanding that she'll make a full recovery so-"
Slughorn didn't even get to finish his sentence before Severus raced out of the room and dashed down the dungeon corridor towards Hogwarts' infirmary.
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Severus barreled into the Hospital Wing with the frantic fury of a nervous bat as his dark gaze darted over the beds in a desperate search to find Lily.
With the academic day finished, the professors no longer had classes to hold.
Severus noticed McGonagall talking to Madam Pomfrey as the two women stood at the foot of a bed.
He couldn't see who lay there, but as he approached, his throat clenched with worry as he saw the strange, bloodied objects on Madam Pomfrey's metal tray.
A fork…..
A cracked, silver plate…
One bronze goblet…….
Two spoons…..
"Really, Poppy, I'm not sure what to do with the girl." McGonagall shrugged, "You're truly certain that she…ate….all of these….things?"
"She did, yes." Madam Pomfrey nodded at McGonagall, "I pried most of them out of her stomach whole, Minerva. You should have seen it….a nightmare! It was a true nightmare!...She really should be sent home, Hogwarts isn't the place for her."
"I spoke with Albus before her letter was sent." McGonagall huffed as she pursed her lips, "He promised me we had nothing to worry about…..He insisted that none of this would happen until after she had graduated!"
Madam Pomfrey turned to look at Severus as he approached her and McGonagall.
His mouth went dry as he saw that his darling flower lay asleep in the nearby bed.
Lily looked pale and fragile as she rested with a frown on her lips.
Severus blinked when Madam Pomfrey asked him, "Ah, Mr. Snape….I assume you're here to see Miss Evans?"
"Yes….I am." Severus nodded.
"Well, she's comfortable now, so mind that you don't wake her. She's had a very difficult afternoon." Madam Pomfrey sternly instructed, "Minerva and I will give you a moment…..but see that you're quiet."
No one understood how to be quiet better than Severus Snape.
Silently, he sat down at Lily's bedside while McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey walked across the room to continue their conversation in private.
Severus frowned as he stared at Lily while she lay unconscious in the hospital bed.
As she slept, her pale face clenched in a tight scowl of anguish.
Her lips looked as red as blood.
Severus's black gaze flickered back to the metal tray at the foot of Lily's bed.
He furrowed his brow as he stared at the objects on the tray.
Severus frowned as he dared to reach out and take Lily's hand in a silent attempt to comfort her.
As she slept, her fingers squeezed Severus's while she held onto him tightly.
Severus patiently waited for her to wake.
He had tried to be a good friend by respecting her privacy, but his heart sank with concern for Lily's well-being.
While he sat at her bedside in the Hospital Wing, Severus genuinely hoped that after Lily opened her eyes, she would confide in him about what had happened and why those objects on the tray appeared to have been coated in not only blood, but saliva too.