Chapter 14: Lily

Lily was frantically pacing from side to side like a caged wild animal. The crisp white barrenness of the walls did nothing to calm her, and she took it in turn to cross the room, try the door she knew was locked, and begin pacing again. She hated it. She didn't want to be here. She didn't need to be here. What she needed was to get to Severus. Whatever was happening to him, he needed her. If she could only get out of here. But her mother had insisted. Insisted so strongly in fact, it got to the point where she was literally carrying her to the car and strapping her in the back seat like a three-year-old.

The ride over had been...interesting. She spent the majority of the time screaming at her parents and now that she was alone she couldn't seem to recall what she had been screaming about. The only reason she remembered even that much was from the rawness in her throat and the raspiness of her voice. She only had one thing in the forefront of her mind, and it played over and over again like a broken record:

I have to get to Severus. I have to get to Severus. I have to get to Severus. I have-

Again and again it played, her anxiety building within her as each repetition echoed into the emptiness. From the moment she was free of her back seat restraints it was as though they continued to find new and troublesome ways to hold her back, and she was getting extremely agitated by it.

When they pulled into the parking garage and paraded themselves through the sliding doors they were met by two nurses who had jumped instantly to their feet, alarmed by the raucous way in which the Evans family piled into the lobby. Lily struggled against her parents as they attempted to wrangle her toward the waiting area. She was seized immediately and taken to a private room, while her parents were whisked away in the opposite direction, Petunia in tow, toward a different area of the hospital. Likely they wanted to look everyone over. Her father was still bleeding openly from a rather impressive gash on his forehead, and her mother sported a remarkable collection of blisters that dotted her palms and the insides of her forearms.

It took three nurses to wrestle Lily into the room she was now imprisoned in. Two to hold her down, and one to wield the syringe full of a mysterious clear fluid. The nurse proceeded to try and stick her with it, yelling for her to 'calm down' and that they were 'only trying to help' as she lunged for the thrashing whirlwind that was Lily Evans. Bullshit they were. Whatever it was they were doing was far from helpful and it was just wasting more of her precious time. Sev's too.

When the nurse got close to penetrating Lily's skin with the pointed end of the needle it vanished into thin air and the nurse was left holding a leaky syringe and a puzzled expression. By the time she had gotten a fresh needle and tried again, all three nurses were shaken to the point of paranoia, swearing up and down that there had indeed been a needle in the syringe this time, though none of them had seen it fall out. It was just gone. It was there and then it wasn't. Like magic.

The baffled nurses left, arguing loudly about what the hell just happened and which one of them should be the one to track down the doctor. As they talked over one another she overheard one nurse suggest to the others that Lily may calm down if left to her own devices. To her credit, it did seem to work at first, but now with her mantra as her only companion she could feel the rising panic brewing dangerously below the surface once more. If things didn't start moving along, and soon, it would threaten to break through her at any moment, and she refused to be held responsible for it. Not when every bloody person in this place refused to take her seriously. There were far more pressing matters at hand.

At that moment there was a loud click and the door creaked cautiously open. Lily's eyes narrowed and she glared at the stranger now standing in front of her. A doctor. He raised his hands as though in surrender, proving he came unarmed.

"You must be Lily," he said gently. He stepped back, pushing the door open a bit wider to allow a second person to walk past him. Mrs. Evans strode in, her arms wrapped and bandaged until they resembled a pair of heavy white mitts. A shiny gel-like paste was oozing out the edges of the wrappings and left shiny darkened blotches along the otherwise spotless fabric.

"We have to leave!" Lily informed her mother as she walked in. "I need to help Sev-"

Mrs. Evans leaned over urgently and whispered something in the doctor's ear. He nodded stiffly and stepped gingerly out of the room, the door snapping shut behind him.

"MUM! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?! WE NEED-"

"For heaven's sake Lily, HUSH," Mrs. Evans scolded. She paused, listening at the door. When she was satisfied that nobody had overheard (or at the very least decided not to intervene) she crossed to Lily and fixed her with a very severe look.

"But I-"

"-Enough!" Mrs. Evans whispered sternly. "Lily, do you have any idea the damage you could have caused? Did you ever stop to think what this information could do to Severus? To our family?"

Lily gaped at her mother in shocked outrage. "What-"

Mrs. Evans held up a hand before she could utter another syllable.

"Listen to me, and listen to me good Lily Louise Evans," Mrs. Evans began harshly, grasping Lily by the shoulders and staring her dead in the face. "If the doctor found out about a case of domestic child abuse he would be obligated to report it to the proper authorities. There would be an investigation. Best case scenario they would remove Severus from the home, but these things take time and it doesn't guarantee an immediate arrest and who do you think that monster is going to come after first? Do you really want that man to come knocking down our door again? Did you see what he did to your father? This whole thing makes me sick. He threatened us! And so help me Lily, I believe him, I really do."

Mrs. Evans paused to survey her daughter, whose jaw dropped open and whose face somehow managed to look both offended and guilty at the same time. "And what if Severus wasn't taken away? What do you think would have happened to him then? We are NOT going to report this, or press any charges. Do you understand me Lily Louise? For the sake of Severus AND your family keep your mouth shut and don't even THINK about bringing it up again!"

An overwhelming flood of shame washed over Lily and settled itself somewhere in the pit of her stomach. The truth was that she really hadn't stopped to think about any of those things and to hear her mother say it out loud made her feel incredibly foolish, and not to mention selfish. She really just wanted to help, but instead she had almost made everything worse. This was something that could have impacted Sev's entire life, and possibly her family's too. Why couldn't she have seen that? She fought back the tears that pricked the corners of her eyes and humbly stared at her feet, too overwhelmed with remorse to do much of anything else.

There was a heavy thud against Lily's shoulder. She glanced in the direction from whence it came to see her mother's heavily bandaged hand attempting to comfort her, but all it did was make her feel worse. She knew that whatever happened to her mother's hands was because of her and their struggle on the front step. It didn't matter that she didn't mean to do it, or that she had lost control. It was still all her fault. She hurt her mum. She hurt someone she loved. A fresh wave of guilt squeezed the knot in her stomach and made her heart thrust wildly against her chest.

"Are- are you mad at me?" Lily asked softly, nodding toward the bandages.

Mrs. Evans scooped Lily into a one armed embrace and kissed her cheek. "No, I'm not upset about that," she assured her in a much gentler voice.

"What did I do to you?" Lily asked, her voice heavy with concern.

Mrs. Evans giggled, which Lily had not been expecting at all. "The doctor said that they resembled jellyfish stings, but since there was no way I could have been exposed to jellyfish in the last couple hours he remains appropriately baffled," She grinned, recalling the doctor's diagnosis.

"I'm sorry…" Lily whispered.

"Oh tish tosh, your old mum is built of tougher stuff than that," she said waving a hand dismissively.

"Does it hurt? How is dad?"

"Don't worry about me, the doctor says it will likely clear up in a couple of days and it's more itchy than anything. Your father on the other hand-" she shook her head and poked her tongue against the inside of her cheek making a loud clucking noise. "He needs stitches. Three of them. And he has a concussion but they want to do a few more tests to determine how severe it is before they let him go home." She eyed Lily curiously. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Lily admitted stifling a yawn. "But otherwise Ok... Mum?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you angry with Severus?"

"Good heavens child of course not!" Mrs. Evans exclaimed seriously. They sat like that for a while saying nothing. Mrs. Evans appeared to have been lost in thought and Lily thought it best not to interrupt. She nearly nodded off, but was startled awake again when her mother's voice finally broke the silence. "Severus is always welcome, you know that. I just wish we could do more," she said gently. She turned a determined face toward her youngest daughter. "You make sure he comes over for dinner when he can. The least I can do is feed the poor thing."

Lily nodded. "I promise."

"Where on Earth is that Doctor? I swear you send them away for one minute and you won't see them again for hours."

"Can we go and see dad?" Lily asked, standing up quickly.

"Not yet love. The Doctor needs to look you over first."

Lily scoffed. "But I'm fine!" she insisted hotly.

"Lily, you have to understand how it looks. When you arrived at the hospital you were completely unhinged. I've never seen you behave so rashly, and the words...the words that came out of your mouth. I never thought I would hear such profanities coming from a young lady, let alone one of my own daughters. It scared me. I was afraid that something might be wrong with you. I think you should be looked at, I want to make sure that nothing else is going on physically."

"-I'm fine," Lily said again stubbornly.

"I know darling, but I just want to be sure."

Lily crossed her arms and leaned against the examination table, trying to distract herself with some of the nothing that plastered the walls. Finally, what seemed like a lifetime later there was a sturdy knock at the door and the doctor re-entered the room.

"How are we all doing? Calmed down a bit have we?"

After being poked and prodded at for approximately ten minutes the doctor concluded that Lily had experienced a severe-scale panic attack. He continued to question Mrs. Evans about the events leading up to the attack to try and uncover any potential triggers. Mrs. Evans was quite honest with what happened, though she left out the parts that made it seem like Severus was in any kind of danger from Tobias and made it out to seem like some sort of confrontational misunderstanding. The doctor eyed her skeptically as she recounted her version of events.

"I see," he said slowly after she had finished. "Well Mrs. Evans I think any child of Lily's age would have reacted in a similar fashion. That is to say, it's not uncommon considering the circumstances. That is a very frightening situation for any child to deal with. You might want to consider taking her to see a psychologist, I think it best for her to process the night's events under the guidance of a professional."

Lily snorted.

"I understand, thank-you Doctor," Mrs. Evans said raising her voice to talk over Lily's blatant display of rudeness. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to take my daughter to see her father and sister in the other ward. Unless there is something else you'll be needing from her?"

The doctor continued to eye Mrs. Evans skeptically but nodded once and stepped aside so they could pass. "I'll come check on you and your husband in a little while," he informed them, following them out and clicking the door shut behind them. "In the meantime, let your daughter get some rest if at all possible. Do you know where you're going Mrs. Evans?"

Mrs. Evans forced a smile. "Yes, I do believe I know the way, thank-you." They took off up the corridor, the doctor retreating in the opposite direction. Lily followed closely behind so as not to get lost in the dizzying maze of rooms and hallways, all of which were stark white. Lily could feel the hazy edges of a headache begin to form against the walls of her brain. Finally, after many twists and turns, they stopped outside a room labeled '217.'

Mr. Evans was sitting upright, propped against his pillows. The stitches must have already been administered, because there was a square piece of gauze strapped to his forehead where the cut used to be. Petunia was sitting beside the bed, toying with the bed's remote control and giggling every time Mr. Evans acted as though the bed were moving of its own accord. She shrieked when he lunged playfully at her and pulled her on top of him in a clumsy one armed hug.

"Petunia, please," Mrs. Evans said sternly as she ushered Lily inside the room. "Let your father rest, he's been through enough."

"Oh I don't mind Camelia dear," Mr. Evans said happily. "Petunia here has been taking very good care of me," he winked at his oldest daughter and she giggled as she settled herself back in her seat.

"Are you Ok, Daddy?" Lily asked running over to his bedside and throwing her arms around his neck.

"Fine, fine," Mr. Evans reassured her, hugging her back tightly. "Though they did say they wanted to keep me overnight for observation," he continued, meeting his wife's gaze over Lily's shoulder.

Mrs. Evans tsked. "Well, it's practically morning already isn't it? What's a couple more hours? Not to worry Andrew." She drew up beside him and planted a gentle kiss on his forehead before she settled down opposite Petunia, who was pursing her lips every time she caught Lily's eye. "We'll get you back home in no time, but I do think you need to call off work."

"Call off work?! But Camelia, I'm going for a promotion here!"

"Andrew you've had a concussion and no sleep," Mrs. Evans reasoned with him. "There is no way you're going to work tomorrow- er today- I think Mr. Mitchell will understand these particular circumstances," she said fixing him with a meaningful look.

"All right, all right," he said with a defeated sigh. "I suppose you're right-"

"As always," Mrs. Evans finished brightly, patting the back of his hand.

The door creaked open once again and the doctor appeared suddenly in the doorway. "Mr. and Mrs. Evans? Sorry to interrupt, but we'd like to ask you a few questions. If you don't mind stepping out into the hallway for a moment." He asked calmly. Behind him stood a tall clean shaven man dressed in police uniform. A muffled voice crackled through the radio at the man's hip in a code none of them understood.

Mrs. Evans stiffened. "Is this entirely necessary? My husband has a concussion, and we're both very tired."

"I understand Mrs. Evans but I'm afraid I must insist," the doctor replied opening the door wider for emphasis.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans exchanged a look before Mrs. Evans sighed and stood up, helping her husband out of the hospital bed. She wrapped an arm around his waist and the two of them sauntered out into the hallway to deal with whatever was waiting for them, leaving the girls alone in the abandoned hospital room.

For a short while neither of them spoke, since they were both too busy trying to eavesdrop on the conversation happening just outside the door. "See what happens when you bring home a stray?" Petunia broke in snidely.

Lily's mouth dropped open in disbelief. "How can you say that? Did you even see what happened? How he's treated? Or is your skull so thick not even a sledgehammer could penetrate it? I don't think it could have been more obvious," she sneered, shaking her head with disgust. "How can you be so…so mean?"

"Well, I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree then, does it?" Petunia murmured.

"He's not like that at all!" Lily exclaimed. "He's nothing like that monster."

"Oh really?" Petunia scoffed her brow furrowing. "How do you explain Daddy? Or my shoulder? None of this would have happened if it wasn't for him but still you keep inviting him in. He's dangerous Lily, and the sooner you realize that the better it will be for everyone."

"He is not dangerous," Lily retorted angrily.

Petunia rolled her eyes, "Take a good look around you Lily, where are we right now? Or is all this really your fault? Is that what you're saying?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying," Lily said desperately. She didn't know how the conversation had reeled around so completely, but she felt she had lost control, giving Petunia the upper hand.

"If you had stayed away from him like I told you in the first place, none of this would have happened. Mum and Dad wouldn't have gotten hurt, our house would still be in one piece and Mummy and Daddy wouldn't be out there talking to the police right now. I hope it's all worth it, Lily. I hope he was worth it."

Lily said nothing but glared at Petunia angrily. The things she said about Severus were cruel and unfair and she didn't want to believe her sister was capable of being so heartless, but she did feel somewhat responsible for everything that happened tonight, and Petunia's words only seemed to validate those feelings. If only she could have a re-do. Maybe everything would have turned out differently. Maybe she could have hidden Severus better. Maybe she could have protected him. Protected her parents. Maybe she could have handled Mr. Snape. Handled him for Good...

"I told you he'd end up hurting you," Petunia whispered interrupting her train of thought. "I didn't think it would happen so soon though, but I guess I really shouldn't be surprised considering the source." She turned her attention back to the closed door leaving Lily alone with her thoughts. Alone with her guilt. Just Alone. She wished she could get the hell out of here already so she could find Severus-

"Absolutely not! I told you we will not be pressing any charges." The door swung open violently and Mrs. Evans came storming in, leading her husband back to the hospital bed.

"Mr. and Mrs. Evans, I really think you should reconsider-" the doctor said, still standing in the hallway. "This sounds like a break and enter. The fact that the assault was met with violence-"

"I told you, it was all just a big misunderstanding! We've already worked it out with our neighbor. You can kindly send the officer on his way. Now, are you going to do your job and take care of my husband, or is there some other area of our lives, outside your jurisdiction, you'd prefer to pry yourself into?"

The doctor looked disgruntled. "I'll put in the order for the discharge papers. It might take a little while, but once that goes through you'll be free to go," he said stiffly. He turned around slamming the door closed with a little too much force.

"Really, Camelia dear-"

It did indeed take a while for the discharge papers to be put through and Lily suspected it may have had something to do with the manner in which her mother last spoke to the doctor. Mr. Evans was cleared to go back to work in a day or two having been diagnosed with a rather minor concussion, though knowing her father it was likely leaning toward the "day" rather than the "two." A fresh new day was beginning by the time they were finally released from the hospital. The sun was rising and the birds were conducting their usual morning orchestra as the Evans family piled themselves back into the vehicle. As Lily strapped herself into the back seat, her heart gave another painful lurch against her chest as she anticipated the opportunity to track Severus down at last. For her, the car ride couldn't go fast enough.

Before the car even had a chance to come to a complete stop, Lily had unfastened her seat-belt and proceeded to jump out of the still moving vehicle. She barely had time to register the angry protests from both her parents before she was sprinting down the street at full speed. She didn't care. She had wasted enough time. The car ride over had felt like the longest of her life and she spent the whole time going through various scenarios in her head, each more extreme than the last. What happened to Severus last night while she was away, powerless to break free? What horrors did he face when his father finally stowed him away behind closed doors? She could only hope it wasn't as bad as she thought it was. She could only hope that he was alright.

She pounded across the field and turned onto the familiar trail that would lead her to Pine Peak only to find it empty and deserted. She tore up the trail towards their spot by the river, the branches whipping at her face and legs as she flew past, but it didn't stop her. If anything it only encouraged her and renewed her sense of urgency. If only her legs would move faster. The air was tearing in and out of her chest in such frantic bursts it burned her throat, but she ignored it all. All the discomfort in the world couldn't keep her from him.

She crashed through the edge of the trees and out into the open field, nearly falling over at the sudden lack of resistance. He was there, as she knew he would be, and she barely missed a beat as she regained her balance and sprinted toward him at full speed. He was looking out over the river, clearly waiting for her. She wondered how long he had been there for. How long had he been waiting?

"Sev-rus!" She called anxiously as she tried to call his name and gulp down more oxygen at the same time. "Sev!"

He had hardly begun to turn around when she crashed into him, throwing her arms around him, and gasping for air in which she wasn't entirely certain could be blamed on the run alone. He clearly hadn't been expecting this and the surprise combined with Lily's exhaustion was enough to send the both of them falling to their knees.

"I was so worried," Lily sobbed at his shoulder, grasping his coat to make sure he was real. "I was so worried about you, and I tried. I tried to get away but I couldn't. I couldn't do it. They wouldn't let me leave." She pulled a tear streaked cheek away to look him in the eye and assess him, to examine the state he was in.

His expression was pained. And he drew in a sharp breath as Lily pulled away from him, wincing. Lily released him at once, looking alarmed. She knew that it was going to be bad, and right now she wasn't sure if she was prepared to know just how bad it was.

"I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?!"

"It's alright," Severus said shortly, straightening himself up once more. But he couldn't stop his hand from instinctively cupping his shoulder. Lily had to see for herself. She needed to know.

"He hurt you." It wasn't a question. "Let me see it."

"No, you don't need to see it. I'm alright now," he said, offering up one of those weak half-smiles she'd become so accustomed to.

"Severus Snape, if you don't show me your shoulder, I swear to God the first thing I'm going to do when I learn magic is hex you into the next century. And who knows? Maybe I don't even need the training, but I'm not so sure you want to be in a position to find out. Now show me your shoulder," she repeated, enunciating each word.

A ghost of a smile passed his lips so quickly, she couldn't be sure she'd seen it at all or if it was just a trick of the light. He sat so stiffly she thought he may not have taken her threat seriously after all, which to be fair was, of course, empty. His lip twitched, but he began to unbutton his jacket. Grimacing he shrugged out of one sleeve and pulled the smock over to reveal the porcelain skin underneath. Lily gasped.

The entire joint was surrounded by a deep velvety purple that lay blotched like one of those interpretive art paintings she'd seen on a field trip. It even had similar layers. A red/pink background with hues of deep purple, black and even a navy blue that were set deep in the center of the foreground. It were as though the galaxy were stamped against his skin, it looked so wrong. The joint itself was bulging slightly from the swelling that still lingered there. Lily shook her head sadly.

"This is so wrong. We have to do something about this! He can't treat you like that!" she exclaimed hotly.

Severus readjusted his smock, not bothering to refasten it, and saying nothing as he straightened his collar. Lily knew he was doubting everything she just said and his features screamed with a 'so what do you expect me to do about it?' sort of expression. She crossed her arms and watched him appraisingly.

"What?"

"What else?" she asked sternly.

"What do you mean, 'what else'?"

"What else did he do to you?"

"What makes you think he did something else?"

One eyebrow rose high on her forehead, until it threatened to disappear beneath her hairline. Severus looked annoyed. His brow furrowed as he challenged her with his own dissecting glare. Finally, after some incredibly tense moments he caved, though it was obvious he wasn't happy about it. His jaw tightened as his teeth clenched and he let out a low groan of exasperation. He shrugged off his coat completely and turned his back to her, waiting.

Lily took the hint at once and grabbed up the bottom of his smock, pulling it up until her hand was level with the nape of his neck. There were several multi colored bruises that spattered across his back in random patterns. A few of them had welted or scabbed over, looking dark and raw against the fairness of his skin. Lily reached out and traced a few of them with tentative fingertips, expecting Severus to jump away from her touch but surprised when he remained perfectly still.

"Satisfied?" he asked moodily as he turned back around, forcing Lily to let go of his smock.

"No," she replied briskly. "I won't be satisfied until we do something about your dad."

Severus let out an exasperated sigh. "Lily, listen. I need to talk to you about something."

"What?" she asked cautiously, her eyes narrowing. Her heart had evidently decided to try and make a run for it, and the path it chose was the path of least resistance...her throat. She choked a little from her reaction, and her hands balled into tight fists in her lap.

"I- I just think- I dun know if-"

"What is it Sev?" she asked seriously.

"I don't think you should hang around with me anymore," he said suddenly.

Lily's heart, which must have been halfway up to her throat by now, sank all the way back down into her stomach and she felt a wave of overwhelming heat rip its way through her entire body. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as her breath hitched and her lip trembled.

"You don't mean that," she said quietly. "You can't mean that."

Severus looked as though he wanted to be anywhere but there. His shoulders slumped forward in defeat and his own breathing became short and shallow. "I do."

"But, I need you. You're my best friend…"

"That's why you need to stay away from me," he explained. "I care for you too much now. I need you to be safe and if you're around me that isn't going to happen. What happened at your house the other day damn near killed me. I can't go through that again. I won't. I don't think I could ever forgive myself if he hurt you. I'm sorry for what happened to you and your family. The only way I can make sure it doesn't happen again is if I stay away from you all."

Lily frowned. "Don't I get any say in this? Considering this decision affects me as much as you. I dare say I think I'm entitled to at least have a discussion first."

Severus shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid not. The decisions already been made."

Lily scoffed. "Is that so? Well, if it's already decided then, sure, why not? I'll just go on pretending like you don't exist then, shall I? Is that what you want? I'm a big girl Sev, and believe it or not capable of making my own decisions." She glared at him, insulted that he could have made a decision of this magnitude without her say so. Especially when it affected her so directly. Did he even respect her at all?

"It's too dangerous. You don't know what you're risking. My father- he don'" Severus swallowed. "He doesn't care who he hurts. If you're around me and he catches us he'll target you too. I can't allow that to happen."

"I'm not afraid of him! And besides, it's worth the risk isn't it? I'm not ready to just say goodbye and pretend none of this ever happened. I'm not ok with it."

Severus stood up, gathering his coat and draping it over one arm. "Just stay away from me Lily," he said softly. He turned and walked away leaving Lily to watch his dwindling form disappear into the wood, until she was left entirely alone.

A/N: Sorry it's taken a while to update (again!) This usually happens when I've put poor Lil Sev through the ringer and he needs a rest. Thanks for reading. If you feel so inclined leave a review, they're always appreciated :)