The book remained painfully silent.
They had purchased the twin enchanted notebooks in Diagon Alley before their second year. The pair of notebooks had been on the much cheaper side but had still lasted four years in perfect working order – if you ignored the rapidly growing smudge on the back cover.
Severus couldn't help but flip through the pages every few days, wondering if perhaps Lily would consider playing a prank to find out how long it would take him to notice a note on a different page. He could remember her doing so once before – a little note on one of the first pages telling him she had become a prefect.
As he flipped through the book, the contrasting writing styles often dragged him into old conversations they had shared during the exciting nights at Hogwarts and the long nights of the holidays. Each time he was forced to realize how sparse Lily's green replies had become over the last year. Their previously flowing conversation, with the occasional homework question or assignment reminder, had disintegrated into a series of messages that didn't really relate to each other.
A hurried response followed by a change of topic or a scolding for how he had quietly watched a Hufflepuff or Gryffindor get bullied. His unending apologies and promises that he would try to convince the other Slytherins – whom he knew would never listen to him.
Until the day he had referred to her as a Mudblood after being riled to rage.
It had been right after the Ancient Runes – Severus' most hated subject – exam, and James and his sycophantic friends seemed to have been waiting for him by the lake. Severus fell for their ridicule and taunts again. He bitterly wondered if it was only bullying if it came from the Slytherins as Lily furiously walked back to the castle after shouting her disappointment in him.
On that day, the replies, scolding, everything from Lily stopped.
He made sure to scrawl a hello at least once a month to make sure it wasn't the enchantment that had faded. Perhaps it was also with the small hope that one day Lily would respond, or maybe to make her feel less awkward if one day she felt the urge to write back.
The long list of unreturned greetings met him on the last occupied pages.
Severus was willing to convince himself that the enchantment on Lily's book had failed.
He wasn't willing to believe that Lily would still be so angry and unwilling to let him explain. He didn't want to think that she had so easily given up on him despite their friendship.
He didn't want to believe that they had drifted so far apart without him realizing it.
Written for Hogwarts:
Aquatic Studies – Task 1: Write about a split
Pop Figures – Hermione Weasley: (object) book