April 14, 1978

Part 2

Lily threw off the invisibility cloak and pointed her wand at Severus' chest.

The sound of the door opening made Severus turn, and seeing Lily made his face freeze in shock.

"Lily?"

"Tell Rosier to stay where he is." Lily said stiffly, for Rosier had started to rise and was pulling out his wand.

Severus glanced at him and nodded. Rosier looked extremely offended, but sat back down and put his wand away.

"Lily, what are you doing here?"

"I know what you think is about to happen with James, and I'm telling you it's not going to." Lily said with more confidence then she felt.

"He challenged me. I'm just being honorable and showing up, I could've just tipped off McGonagall and let him get in trouble, but I didn't I'm here." Severus gestured around. He sounded a bit mad, his eyes a bit too bright, his gestures a bit too choppy.

"I don't care who started it, but I'm telling you I'm ending it."

Severus seemed not to be expecting that response. "Well I'm not leaving."

"I wasn't going to ask you to." Lily said harshly. Rosier stood again.

"What are you suggesting, mudblood." Rosier said testily. Severus visibly cringed at the last word.

Lily moved the point of her wand from Severus' chest to Rosiers, "Stupefy!" She yelled and moved the wand immediately back to Severus' chest.

He looked shocked, looking from Rosier's body on the ground to Lily a number of times before he swallowed thickly and his gaze came to rest on Lily.

"So what, Lily, you want to duel?"

"No, I want to beat you."

Lily launched into throwing spells at Severus, unfortunately he was good at deflecting them. Lily was not disheartened however, and advanced letting her mind find spells that were a little more powerful, a little more deadly.

This seemed to have more of an effect, the strength of the spells seeping past Severus' defenses and giving him a bloody nose from effort.

Lily looked closer at him, he looked genuinely afraid. But if she had been anyone else he likely would have pushed the spells off and launched his own attack, and Lily hated to admit it, but she likely wouldn't be able to defend against that. Severus was always making spells up and he probably had a whole arsenal prepared for fighting Gryffindors who bothered him.

But she was not anyone else and so Severus did nothing but deflect. This could only last so long and Lily was getting agitated that he wouldn't fight back. He was backing up as she advanced and the wall was getting closer behind him. Lily couldn't see herself, but she was sure she looked equally mad to him. Her hair was coming loose from where she'd tied it up, and she was sweating with the effort of launching so many powerful spells.

Finally it happened. Severus backed up into the wall behind him. The shelves shook ominously and the objects on it teetered threateningly. Severus seemed to realize that he was out of options because he made a noise deep in his throat somewhere between a sob and a growl. It was terrifying, but Lily couldn't waver. She continued launching her spells, but her arm was getting tired and her sleeves was slipping down her arm attempting to get in her way.

The noise issued once more from deep in Severus' throat and he began to launch his own arsenal of deadly spells and began to step forward from the wall.

Lily would not be moved, she had decided long ago not to let Severus Snape push her around. Today would be no different than the last two years that she had spent not letting him into her thoughts and her life. This resolve steeled her nerves and an eerie calm settled over her. Her spellwork became more fluid and easier. She smiled, she laughed. Maybe she really had gone mad, but it felt good, so good, to do this. She didn't realize how much she had been bottling up her emotions, she had shut them up in a little corner of her mind and thrown away the key. But fighting like this was letting it all out and the rush of pleasure she felt made her throw her head back and laugh. She couldn't possibly lose because he had hurt her. He had done it for so long, how could she not have seen it before? He had been hurting her since they had met. He had pushed a wedge between her and her sister. Petunia hated her more everyday that she spent with Severus and he had toxically tried to keep him to herself, but the catalyst that ended their friendship was when she had misguidedly tried to help him and he had called her "mudblood". It had been a slap in the face, she remembered it vividly the feeling that the word had hit her like a brick waking her up to the simple fact that Severus Snape was a git.

Lily's change in attitude seemed to scare Severus and he began to back up again. Lily summoned the last of her rapidly draining energy and launched her final curse at him, "Expulso!" She cried, launching the explosive curse at him.

It had the effect she'd intended the force of it knocked Severus into the wall behind him and he slumped to the floor unconscious. At this point the shaking and teetering shelves gave in and fell on top of Severus, who gave a pained, reflexive grunt, and the objects on them shattered all around him.

Lily breathed heavily several times, expelling the stress that the duel had caused. She then raised her wand again to pick up the shelves and to fix the items which had broken. Lily inspected both crumpled bodies, they were both alive and, with a little treatment from the hospital wing, would be fine.

She wasn't sure if someone would come running from the great sound that the shelf falling over and the subsequent object smashing or if she would have to take them there herself. She suspected the former, but that might lead to some questions as to why she was in there mostly alive and they were unconscious.

Unfortunately at that moment James and Sirius stepped in, wands raised.

Lily watched both boys examine the crumpled bodies that she was backing up from.

"Uh Lils?" James whispered.

"Blimey Evans, what did you do?" Sirius burst out.

"Well, you can't just go around getting into duels with people, so I put a stop to it and since the two of you are too thickheaded and stubborn to listen to anyone I stopped it from the other end."

"By killing Snivellus?!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Don't be daft, Black, they're just unconscious." Lily put her hands on her hips and glared at them, the nerve of them.

"H-How?" James mumbled.

"Are you asking what spells I used?" Lily asked sweetly.

"You dueled them?!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Not together, idiot." Lily readjusted her hair tie.

James and Sirius looked baffled, which was entirely not helpful.

"Hold on a minute, you told us not to duel the bastard git, and then you come in here and do it? How come you're allowed?" Sirius countered.

"Because," Lily paused, well really because she hadn't expected to duel, but they really weren't going to accept that answer. "Because I know some of the spells he experimented in making and you two dolts would've gotten yourselves killed."

James nodded solemnly. Sirius was floundering for something to respond with, evidently finding nothing he just threw up his arms.

"Uh... what do we do with them?" James asked.

"Well I was thinking leave them in front of the hospital wing knock and then leave."

"Lilyflower I think our Prongsie's bad side is rubbing off on you a bit, petty pranks like that really are beneath you."

"Thank you for that very insightful comment, but are you going to help or not?"

The next day at breakfast Rosier and Snape glared at Lily from across the hall but didn't tell anyone that it had been her that had gotten them beat. She suspected because that would mean that they would have to admit that a muggleborn girl beat them at dueling, which probably went against the core of their being, but Lily was satisfied enough to see them limping down the hallways and enjoyed their general silence towards her. Lily felt immensely proud that she had been able to beat them, but she kept that specific information to herself since as Head Girl she really shouldn't have been dueling other students, it was most likely against school rules.

A/N: Yeah! I had a lot of fun writing this so I hope you enjoy! (Not just because I hate Snape) LeAvE a reViEw!