Two days after that first talk in the park, Severus, Florence and Lily were back under the same tree, and this time, as James Potter approached them, Florence convinced Lily to stay.

James behaved as a gentleman, not once making Lily feel uncomfortable near him. He even pushed her on the swings, while Severus pushed Florence. And they spent the afternoon talking about life and Hogwarts.

Around four-thirty the four of them sat at an ice-cream parlour to have some cold sweets.

"Sirius said he already knows you, Florence," Said James, as they enjoyed their ice-creams.

"Yes. I adore his brother, Regulus. I've been for dinner at his family's house at Grimmauld Place many times. I've also spent nearly every summer at his aunt's beach-house in Italy. Aunt Druella Black; she is mother to three girls – all older than us."

"Isn't one of her girls marrying that Malfoy git?" Asked James, "I think I heard my grandmother say she was going to their wedding."

Florence grimaced, "My good friend, Narcissa Black is marrying Lucius Malfoy. I was invited to their wedding as well, but I'm not going. He's an idiot. I think she's making a huge mistake but she thinks she's in love," she shook her head, thinking to herself: Also I can't go because father will most likely be there.

"It's going to be a big party," continued James, "Both families are obscenely wealthy."

"You bet it will. Aunt Druella certainly wouldn't have it any other way," said Florence, "When her eldest daughter, Bellatrix, married Rodolphus Lestrange, the party lasted three days. It was ridiculous."

"Did she also think of herself in love?" Asked Lily.

"No," Florence shook her head, "And as much as I dislike Bella, I pitied her, for she was forced to marry. But the union of a Black to a Lestrange was too marvellous to be denied just because they didn't love each other," She rolled her eyes, "No matter how miserable the bride was."

"At least they aren't cousins," said Severus with a smirk, making them laugh.

"The nonsense of the Sacred Twenty-Eight knows no limits," James said, finishing his ice-cream.

Lily frowned, having no idea what he was talking about, "What nonsense? Who are the Sacred Twenty-Eight?"

"Oh, they are the remaining twenty-eight families that are proud to say they have no muggle ancestry," explained Severus, "Malfoys, Blacks, Lestranges and other families have strict rules against marrying half-bloods, muggleborns or muggles. They only marry other families within the Sacred circle."

James raised his hands, "I'm proud to say my family was expelled from that list when my great-great-grandfather defended muggleborns' rights in front of the whole Wizengamot."

"My mother's family used to be on that list as well, in the original one from the 1930s," continued Severus, "There were more than twenty-eight then. But nowadays only a few still follow those stupid rules," He paused, eating his ice-cream, "Anyway, I was invited to the Black-Malfoy wedding you mentioned, and I was planning on inviting you to go with me, Flor," he turned to her.

Florence frowned, wondering what he could've done to manage to get invited to that party, but she decided not to ask and just shook her head, "You can go if you want, Severus. But I'm not going to watch my friend marry that idiot."

"Is she being forced to marry him?" asked Lily, a little concerned after all she had just heard.

"Not at all. Cissy believes she loves him, that she knows who he is and that he's a gentleman who will provide her a fancy and comfortable future," Florence made a disgusted face, "But he's not what she thinks he is. All Malfoys are vile."

Severus looked at her with a curious gaze for a while, but didn't say anything.

"Well," said James, "As we've already established: the Sacred Twenty-Eight can go fuck themselves – as they have been doing since the 1930s," and they all laughed, "And it pains me to say this but, I fear I have to go now," He gave them an apologetic smile, "If you'll excuse me, my mom's asked for my help with tonight's dinner."

"Oh, going so soon," said Lily in a dejected voice, "We are having so much fun."

"Sorry, Lily," James said, kissing her cheek softly, "I must go," he looked at Severus and Florence, "I'm not kissing you, Snape. But I wouldn't mind kissing your girlfriend."

"Fuck off, Potter," growled Severus putting an arm around Florence.

And the Gryffindor went home, laughing.

"He's actually not as unpleasant as I thought," said Lily, watching James go, "He was such a gentleman today."

"Do you like him, Lils?" asked Florence, smiling and glancing at her boyfriend.

"Yes," the red-headed blushed, "He's always been so annoying, but today he was... brilliant. I really enjoyed spending this afternoon in the park with him and you."

"He really likes you, you know," Florence said.

"I know," said Lily blushing redder.

"Everybody knows," murmured Severus.

"Does this mean you are thinking about giving him a chance, Lily?" Florence asked, ignoring her boyfriend's comment.

"Yes," Lily said with a smile, "If what we saw today is the real James Potter, I'm definitely going to give him a chance."

Back in Eileen's house

Later that day

After Eileen had gone to bed, Severus and Florence stayed in the living room sofa watching a movie on TV.

She had her head on his lap and he played with her hair, loving the vanilla scent that always emanated from the brown strands when he played with them.

Florence was almost falling asleep under his touches when he brought up the wedding again: "Are you really not going to the Malfoy wedding, Flor?"

"No, I'm really not. I've already sent Cissy a letter explaining my absence. But it's like I said before: if you want to go, Severus, you go, I won't mind," she knew the reason he wanted to be there at the wedding - to make contacts, to fit in with the purebloods - and she couldn't stop him. Not without an argument anyway.

"Travers and Nott are expecting me to be there," he added.

Florence sighed heavily and sat up, looking at him, worried, "I know why you want to go, Sev. And you know I disagree with you when it comes to Malfoys, Travers, Notts or any other You-know-who follower. But if you want to go to the wedding, I won't stop you. However, don't ask me to go down that path with you," then she got up from the sofa, going into the kitchen, leaving him with the impression she was talking about more than just the wedding.

Later that night when Florence walked out of his mother's room to go get herself a middle-of-the-night glass of water, Severus walked out of his room and picked her up before she'd reached the stairs, carrying her to his bedroom – where he closed the door and cast: "Muffliato."

"What do you want, Severus?" she had her arms crossed, looking angry.

He didn't say anything, in seconds he had her pinned against the wall, her green eyes getting instantly lighter as he put a hand under her chin, his thumb grazing her lips as he keept her head in place for his attack; and she rolled her tongue on the tip of his thumb before sucking it into her mouth, making him groan.

But he knew they needed to talk before snogging each other senseless, so he brought their foreheads together, keeping one arm around her waist.

"Flor, I'm..."

She touched two fingers to his lips, shushing him, "I understand that you want to go places and do things that only rich people have access to," She looked him in the eyes, "It's hypocritical of me to tell you none of those things matter when I lived in those places and did those things all my life. They are commonplace to me."

She kissed him softly, before continuing, "You'll have to see for yourself how empty most of those people are. Lestranges, Blacks, Rosiers, Bulstrodes... they are the most obnoxious people you'll ever have the displeasure of meeting." Severus tried to object, but she continued: "No, Sev, listen to me: meeting you, Lily, Alice, Frank, even James, has been the best thing that's happened to me in years," She paused, noticing no matter what she said he'd not change his mind, "You go to Cissy's wedding, you have dinner with those people and you'll see what I mean."

"You won't be mad at me?" he asked.

"For going to the wedding? Of course not! But for pursuing a career with the Death Eaters?" She said in a low tone, causing him to freeze, "Then I'll be more than mad, Severus, I'll be gone. I'll be out of your life if you really choose that path." and Florence left the room.

He just looked at her, a part of him still hoping she'd change her mind in the future.

When the time to go to the wedding arrived, Severus dressed up in black formal clothes and left the house by Floo without a word.

"Did you talk to him?" asked Eileen as the green flames died in the fireplace.

"Yes. But he has to see with his own eyes, godmother. Hopefully he'll come back disappointed."

Next morning

Florence and Eileen walked downstairs to have breakfast, and Severus was already there.

Florence kissed her boyfriend good morning and sat at the table, "So how was the party?"

"It was amazing!" he replied, sounding very excited, "I met the most fascinating people! There was this man there, Mr. Abraxas Malfoy introduced me to him, I don't know his first name, but people called him Lord Peverell."

Florence felt her blood run cold, she glanced at her godmother, seeing fear and shock reflected in her eyes as well; luckily Severus was so focused on telling them about the party that he didn't notice their reactions.

"He was elegant," he went on, "And so fucking brilliant! We talked for long minutes and he invited me to share his table so we could keep on talking during dinner. It was incredible! The most interesting dinner I've had in my life! And the food was amazing too. This morning Mr. Avery sent me a letter saying I made a very good impression with the Lord."

Florence didn't know what to say – her boyfriend had had dinner with her father and apparently they had adored each other.

If she thought the wedding would make Severus give up on his ideas of joining the Death Eaters, it had backfired terribly – for it seemed her own father had charmed him, making him even surer of his decision.

After that wedding party, their Summer vacation went on uneventfully, with many afternoons spent in the park with James and Lily.

Regarding Severus' future plans, Florence decided to not talk about those anymore.

If they had until they graduated Hogwarts to be together, she'd enjoy that time with him, and deal with the pain of having to end their relationship (because of his choices) when the time came.

September 1st, 1976

The trip to platform 9 ¾ went as usual, Mr Evans gave Severus and Florence a ride to the platform so that Eileen wouldn't have to miss work to take them.

As Severus, Florence and Lily stood on the platform, waiting for the signal to board the train, Florence saw a friendly face in the crowd and showed Lily: "Look, James is over there," She was about to wave at him but then she saw he wasn't alone, "Oh, no. Black is with him."

"I heard that Sirius is now living with the Potters in Godric's Hollow," said Lily, clearly upset by that, "It's been a week already."

"That's why James stopped going to the park," murmured Florence, "He doesn't want Sirius to know that he has been talking to us!" she looked at her boyfriend.

"What an arsehole," Severus glared at James.

Lily just looked disappointed, "I was afraid this would happen, Flor," she said, looking towards James, "His changed behaviour during summer was too good be true," She looked like she might cry.

Florence and Severus glared at James, not hiding they were plotting revenge.

James caught their angry stares but looked away.

Florence's attention was diverted from the Potter Problem when she saw Regulus Black arrive at the Platform alone; she waved at him and the younger Black brother nearly ran towards her.

"My dear Reggie!" She exclaimed, hugging her friend, "How've you been?"

"I'm good. Things at home have been a little better since Sirius moved out. Mother is not as angry as she used to be while he was around."

"Good to know. You're sitting alone on the train? You can stay with us if you want."

"No, don't worry. I have some friends waiting for me."

"Ok. Anything you need, just come looking for me," she offered.

"I will," Replied Regulus, "Now, I need one more hug to get me a few points with the other fourth-year students. They will die with envy when they see me hugging Severus' hot girlfriend, not to mention it'll also infuriate my brother."

Florence laughed and hugged her friend again.

Sirius had his eyes on his younger brother hugging Florence so he didn't notice the exchange of glances between James and Lily.

"Hey, Prongs, is Delacour really dating Snape?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," James sighed in annoyance, "And I've told you that already. Why are you so obsessed with her? Are you in love with her or something?" he frowned.

"Sort of obsessed, yes," Sirius admitted, one hand going to his hair, something he did when nervous, "She's a good friend of my brother's and my cousins' so we spent some summers together at my aunt's beach house-"

"In Italy. I know." James added in a bored tone.

Sirius tilted his head, "Have I told you about that?"

James stopped, suddenly realising that Florence had been the one to tell him about Italy and not Sirius, so he lied: "Yes. Of course. How else would I know about your aunt Druella's beach house?"

"Right," nodded Sirius, still a little unsure, "Anyway, Delacour never looked at me twice then, not even as a friend. For three years I tried to make her notice me and nada. Then she comes to Hogwarts and stupid Snivellus gets her to fall for him in five days!" Sirius looked at Florence again, then he finally noticed that Lily was glancing at James, "Heey- Evans is looking at you, man!"

"I know," James murmured looking the other way.

"You know?" Sirius was surprised by his lack of enthusiasm, "And you're acting whatever about it? Care to explain to me what's going on here? Don't you like her anymore?"

"I do. I like her more now than ever before."

"So?" asked Sirius confused.

"You wouldn't understand," answered James - after all, how could he explain to his best friend that before he had moved into James's house the two Slytherins had helped him win Lily's heart during the summer and that Snape wasn't as unpleasant as they had originally thought?

Lily, Florence and Severus boarded the train together and quickly found an empty compartment.

However, the Gryffindor girl was called to the Prefects' carriage soon after they boarded, leaving Severus and Florence alone in the compartment - and they took full advantage of that time.

When Lily arrived at the Prefects' carriage, she found out Remus Lupin had been selected Gryffindor Prefect as well.

"Hello, Remus. How are you?"

"Hi, Lily, I'm fine, thanks. How was your vacation?"

"Great. I had a very interesting summer, actually. Florence was at Severus' house and I got to know her better. She's really awesome."

"Befriended the enemy during the summer, Evans?" joked Remus.

"Don't be like that! We spent many afternoons together in the park, Florence, Severus and I. Some days even James was there with us."

"Hold on!" Remus frowned, "Who? James?" he was surprised, "My friend James Potter spent afternoons in a park with you and two Slytherins and one of those was Severus, who James himself has nicknamed Snivellus?"

"Yes," Lily laughed.

"You're telling me that you, Florence, Severus and James spent lovely afternoons together at a park? James and Severus?"

"Unbelievable, right?"

"No fights at all?"

"Well, not exactly. Sometimes the two of them argued, but Florence always stopped them."

"Don't think for a second that I believe you, Lily," said Remus, shaking his head.

"Prefects!" suddenly called a seventh-year Ravenclaw girl, "You can begin patrolling the train's corridors. Remember the rules: no fights are allowed in the train, and couples going heavy on the snogging must be told to tone it down. In both cases, if the rules are disrespected for a second time, detention will be waiting for them at the castle."

Lily smiled and said: "We'd better start by Florence and Severus' compartment," making Remus laugh.

James and Sirius, followed by Peter Pettigrew, still looked for an empty compartment.

"They are all taken already!" complained Sirius.

"Looks like it," agreed James.

"There!" exclaimed Pettigrew, "I saw Lily and Remus going into that compartment over there. Let's go!"

"I think we'd better not." said James, holding Sirius' arm, knowing that Snape and Florence were probably in there too.

"Why not? I don't want to sit with the first years, man!" Sirius said, already walking toward the compartment.

"No, stop!" James held his friend by his shirt. "Shit. Listen... I'd have to tell you this sooner or later..." he took a deep breath, let go of Sirius' shirt and continued: "I had a great summer talking and joking around with Lily, Florence and Severus."

"Woooow!" Exclaimed Sirius, shocked, "Wait a minute! When has Snivellus become Severus? What are you talking about, mate? Are you high? Were you on drugs before I got to your house?"

"No! Of course not! I just met them and well... Florence is nice and Severus is not so bad. They helped me get close to Lily," James paused, "Look, we can go into that compartment, but if Florence and Severus are in there, let's try not to fight, ok?"

Peter just nodded, silently watching Sirius's reaction.

"This must be some kind of twisted dream or something," said Sirius, not believing his ears, "Ok, fine! All I can promise is no fighting in front of Lily."

"Good enough," Conceded James.

Severus, Florence, Remus and Lily were laughing when the compartment door was opened and James stuck his head in.

"Hi there. May we join you?" he asked.

"And who are we?" asked Severus, "If you have the dog with you..."

"Come on, Severus," said James, rolling his eyes, "There's no other compartments but with the first years!"

Severus smirked, but Florence intervened: "Stop being a pain, Sev. Yes, James, you can come in. All of you."

"Thanks, Flor. You're the best!" and James quickly sat beside Remus, across from Lily, Florence and Severus.

Sirius entered and closed the door afterwards – Peter was too scared of Florence to follow his friends in, so he went looking for some other place to sit.

Sirius sat beside James and looked at Severus, glancing between him and Florence.

Severus wrapped an arm around his girlfriend, pulling her very close, making her roll her eyes at his stupid display of ownership, but he didn't remove his arm.

"Hello, Black," Greeted Florence, "Reggie said you're not living at Grimmauld anymore," she tried to make small talk.

"Yes," Sirius replied. "I'm living with the Potters now. Maybe next summer we can all enjoy afternoons in the park together," he finished, bitterly.

But before Severus could shut him up, Lily was replying, angrily: "Why? So that you can ruin it for all of us? If you can't grow up and stop being petty, maybe you ought to sit with the first years, after all!"

Florence looked at her boyfriend, who seemed as impressed as her by Lily's outburst.

Sirius looked around, neither James nor Remus seemed to be on his side, "Alright, if that's how it's going to be," Sirius stood up, going to the door, "I'm out of here," And he left.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Remus.

"His family gave him an ultimatum and he didn't accept it," James tried to explain, "They kicked him out and he's now living with my family. He's just angry with the world, I think."

"The Sacred Twenty-Eight nonsense has no limits," said Lily, recalling that James had said those exact words in the summer.

"Exactly, it doesn't," Agreed James, looking at the redhead. She smiled at him, making him want to lean across the compartment and kiss her.

Remus didn't miss that and suddenly felt like a third wheel times two in that compartment, "You know, I think I'll go find Sirius," He said, excusing himself and leaving.

Lily quickly occupied Remus's seat by the window, sitting beside James. She glanced at him, smiling.

One hour later, the usual clattering from the trolley could be heard and Florence got up to get some sweets.

"Does anyone want anything?" she asked, "My treat."

"Whatever you want to buy, Florence," Said Lily.

James agreed: "Yes. Anything for me."

"Severus?" Florence asked.

"No, thanks," he didn't even look at her, sounding annoyed.

Florence simply shook her head, Severus' irritation because she was paying for the candy was not something she could understand.

She left the compartment, bought what she wanted and sat back down with a bag full of candy to share.