Disclaimer: As always, I own none of the characters or concepts portrayed in the Harry Potter universe.

Despite the students filing down the steps of the Astronomy Tower, there was still a considerable number that stayed behind to chat for a few moments before heading back to their common rooms. Though the two Gryffindor girls were deep in conversation about the remaining days before term was over, Mary's blue eyes wavered from Lily's upon seeing a certain Slytherin breaking into a sweat.

"Lily? What do you suppose is wrong with Severus?"

The redhead's face turned behind her to see the young Snape staring directly at her, as if he'd seen a ghost. It was clear that something about being here was deeply upsetting her best friend, but unless he wanted to come clean about everything that was going on, there was little she could do for him…

Nonetheless, the young witch turned back to Mary, motioning towards the steps. "I guess I'm about to find out. D'you mind if I meet you in the dorm room in a few?"

Mary shook her head, eyes flickering back and forth between Lily and Severus' distant form. "Not at all," she said with a smile. "Though I suppose if Severus needs a little romantic company, you could spend all night watching the stars." she added with a tease, turning to leave before Lily could retaliate.

Lily's ever-searching green eyes took a moment to look at Severus before taking a step forward, when she noticed him sigh in relief at the sight of her movement.

"What on Earth could have Sev so spooked?" she pondered as her steps eventually led her to standing in front of him. Yet still, he never took his eyes away from hers.

After a short time, Lily finally broke the silence with an exhausted smile. "I always hear Potter tell me how pretty I am, but surely there's better things to look at on a gorgeous night like this, don't you think?"

Hearing Lily's cheerful voice, full of the life that his fearful hallucination had lacked, snapped Severus out of the traumatic relapse before he responded in kind. "On the contrary. The stars aren't going anywhere. It's fitting that the planet I saw on my O.W.L. was Saturn, Roman god of time and all. I may as well take in as much of your presence as I can muster since there's no telling what the future holds."

"Words to live by." Lily nodded, her eyes drifting up to the stars. "But just because the sky isn't going anywhere doesn't mean that you aren't either. We all have to enjoy the time we have and not let the unknown of the future rule us…"

Her gleaming emeralds softened as they came back down to meet Severus' black pools once again. "Nor the pain of the past...Listen, Sev-"

Severus shook his head, unwilling to reopen wounds from a lifetime ago. He cut Lily off, with an unwavering, yet gentle tone. He wanted to be more careful than he had been the day before, channeling Tobias' wrath would cause nothing but problems here.

"No, you listen, Lily. What you saw yesterday? You were never meant to see ANY of that. Never. You've always asked, and asked, every Summer, where those bruises and scars came from. And even though I think you've always known, how was I supposed to tell you? That my father single-handedly destroyed both my life and my mother's with his ridiculous hatred for anything magical?"

Lily winced slightly at her best friend's grim recounting of the memory from their previous meeting. But rather than play along and try to reach for an answer to the question, Lily's moved closer to Severus. The motion didn't stop at whisper-distance, as the girl's face drew so close to his that for a moment he thought he might have stumbled into a romantic fantasy where she might kiss him.

Eventually, Lily did stop and her face rested inches away from his as her eyes seemed to be searching for something. Just before a hint of a blush became visible on Severus' face, she finally opened her mouth. "I see flashes of that little boy from time to time." A brief, melodic giggle escaped her lips before she continued. "He was quite adorable...even more so than you were when we met. None of the fear, none of the negativity, just a little boy with big dreams...What happened to that boy, Sev?"

Unable to face any more reminders of his distant past, Severus averted his gaze. "He's dead. Thank my father for that. And also for this 'beak' of mine, as you always like to call it."

Lily shook her head, her loose, curly hair swaying gently in the night breeze as she did so. "No, like I said, I see flashes. You're just always so guarded. Besides…" she added, touching his nose with the tip of her finger, causing that blush he held back to burst forth. "It's not so bad. I'd even say it makes you look wise beyond your years, not to mention quite intimidating, which I suppose is your attempt to keep the little Sev locked away. I am a bit curious though, why you never bothered to fix it? You have magic here, you could easily have set your nose back into place…"

"It would just give Tobias a target during his violent rampages. He broke it once, I'm not keen on the idea of him continuing to break it, wondering why it keeps fixing iself."

Lily's calm voice finally turned urgent and serious, her concern for her friend's well-being finally erupting like a geyser. "Why don't you get out of there, Sev? Why can't you and your Mum just be kept away from that monster for everything he's done?!"

Before Severus could answer that question, the interruption of James Potter came like clockwork as soon as the redhead's voice grew louder. "Lily, what's the matter? Is Snape bothering you?"

Once more, Severus' face turned sour and angry at the intrusion of his adversary. He stepped forward to pan his gaze across all four Marauders, James' usual smirk, Sirius looking back at him with disgust, Remus with an apologetic frown, and Peter, with an uncharacteristically sly smile.

"You're like an annoying itch that just doesn't go away, aren't you, Potter?" Severus' whisper was saturated in frustration. "How many years is it going to take of your paranoia, your need to be right about me, your idiotic boyfriend's stupid need to rebel from his family, your babysitter's incessant need to let you run rampant without keeping you in line, and your tag-along's snivelling? Just a ragtag group of Gryffindor idiots, the lot of you!"

Lily flinched slightly at Severus' growing hostility. She couldn't blame all of his pent-up rage, though she was not in the mood to let a scene occur at the Astronomy Tower. After her interaction earlier with James, how he was willing to stick his neck out for Gryffindor to have a good ending to the year, she attempted to play peacemaker for both sides. "James, honestly, for the last time, he's my best friend...Please just leave us be. Come on, Sev. Let's walk for a bit."

"No…" Severus whispered, barely audible, but his hatred absolutely boiling over. "Why should we leave when this piece of sodding trash continues to stick his nose where it doesn't belong?! We were having a conversation before he came, and as usual, wants to play the grandstanding hero. He's been this way for years. If anyone should leave, it's him!

"Potter, I've had enough of you. Your smug face, your ego that's bigger than all of Hogwarts, and of course your substandard abilities. You think you're better than you really are…"

"Sev, please…" Lily whispered into his ear, placing her hand on his shoulder, trying to reach him through his haze of anger. It reminded her of what he had shown Rosier during the attack at the lake.

Severus' hand was quivering over his side robe pocket, where he kept his wand. "But the thing that sickens me most of all is your need to constantly interrupt and ruin my time with my best friend, one of the only good things in my life. You ruined Hogwarts for me when I was young, you humiliated me when I was too stupid to know better. I'm different now, Potter. But the more things change, the more they stay the same, and no matter what I seem to do, you can't help but make yourself the center of attention…" The Slytherin's eyes were ablaze, contrasting with his deathly quiet whisper. "I challenge you to a duel. Your stupid attack dog, Black, can even help. And when I annihilate you, preferably where all the school can see, kindly stay the hell out of my life."

Remus stepped forward from behind Sirius and James, turning to his friends. "Enough, James. Let's get back to-"

"No, Moony." James interrupted. During Severus' tirade, the young Gryffindor's smirk washed off, replaced by an almost undecipherable look. He turned back to his foe, sensing an end to the rant. "Are you finished?"

Severus sneered. "Hardly. I doubt I'll ever to describe in words how I long for the day to be out of here so I never have to see your bloody face again."

"But then, of course, I'll have to see your face with Lily's eyes again at some point too, won't I?" He pondered before James spoke up.

"Get over yourself, Snape. All that for me asking Lily, who was getting frantic, if you were bothering her. Challenging me to a duel when I'm not carrying my wand? Who brings a wand to an Astronomy O.W.L. in the middle of the night anyway, Snape?"

Before Severus could make a remark about how characteristic it would be for James to have his wand ready for some late-night pranking, another voice joined from behind the three taller Marauders.

"I guess there's no point in waiting for you both to just kill each other then, is there?"

James, Sirius, and Remus all turned toward Peter, who from behind them had his wand pointed directly at Severus.

"Peter, what in Merlin's name are you doing?!" James shouted as his eyes moved back and forth between the round boy's wand and his strangely evil smirk.

"You were warned, Snape. I suppose I need to do something to show you that we mean business and there is no coming back from crossing the cause." Pettigrew chuckled wickedly.

Seeing the Gryffindor's hostile intentions led Severus to drawing his own wand, the black wood pointed expertly at Peter's chest. "Showing your true colors a little early, aren't you? You're mental if you think I'm going to let you cause any damage this time, you treacherous rat!"

Wormtail's laughter revealed his rodent-like teeth as his wand's tip rose higher. "You already did, Snape!"

Before Severus could react, there was a piercing scream from behind him. He knew before he even turned around that the unsettling noise had come from Lily. His eyes widened in horror when he saw that his best friend was no longer standing behind him, but was now floating over the edge of the Astronomy Tower, hanging by her left ankle. The only thing between her and the deadly fall to the grounds below was a Levicorpus that had been holding her aloft, cast by Pettigrew.

Having successfully distracted his target, Wormtail cast a swift disarming charm, which sent Severus' wand to the ground, where the rat-like boy promptly kept it securely underfoot.

The remaining three Marauders were beside themselves, turning back to their companion in disbelief and furious shouting. The uncharacteristic effectiveness of Wormtail's tactics was matched only by his cruelty that they had never seen before.

"What the bloody hell are you doing, Wormtail?!"

"Let Lily go!"

"Peter, have you gone mental?!"

Before any of them could make a dash towards him, however, Pettigrew's voice spat. "Not one step or the Mudblood drops!"

All four of Lily's would-be defenders became deathly still, the Marauders looking back and forth between Peter and Lily, trying to find a way out of this situation, while Severus' eyes were locked with dread at seeing Lily's terrible situation. The young witch's breaths had become frantic, her terrified eyes darting every which direction trying to find something to focus on, to give her hope that she might survive the situation.

"Five of you, and only one was smart enough to bring a wand?! Nothing of value is really going to be lost once the girl dies. Just know that you're going to be next, Snape!" Pettigrew's mocking laugh was almost drowned out by the peril of Lily's position.

"Lily…" Severus called, his voice devoid of anything but a desire to comfort his best friend, to hopefully have her focus. He steeled himself, preparing for what was to come next.

The redhead's eyes were clamped shut, unwilling to look down, trying to wake up from whatever nightmare she thought she was trapped in. "Sev?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Always…" she shivered, her response coming out in little more than a choked cry.

"Hardly a point in anyone trusting you once your Mudblood girlfriend dies thanks to your own spell, you traitorous swine!" Pettigrew laughed, his wand jerking upwards as he made a mad dash towards the staircase behind him.

What happened next was ripped almost directly out of Severus' nightmares. Lily's small frame, which had hung weightlessly in the air, was suddenly sent flailing downwards as Liberacorpus was cast. Seeing those green eyes snap open with the realization that she was about to die sent Severus into a tailspin. It was happening again, this time before his eyes. He jolted his head back to the shocked Marauders. "Don't let him get away, you idiots!" he screamed before flinging himself over the edge of the stone railing.

For Lily, her eyes flooded with tears, time passing slowly as she felt the rush of air pushing into her face. The ground below, even starting from so high, was approaching quickly. Her heartbeat, which had become rapid just from hanging before the fall actually began, was almost unbearably painful at the point that she was staring at her own looming demise.

For Severus, there wasn't even the illusion of a choice. Realizing that he didn't have his wand left him with only one option, and it was an option whose consequences hadn't even crossed the mind of the reborn Slytherin as he straightened his body and was gaining on Lily's falling form. Nothing mattered but reaching her, and the idea of failure was impossible to even fathom. Like an eagle, the young man shot downward and scooped up his beloved, wrapping his arms tightly around her flinching, quivering form.

Lily's petrified gaze, which had been locked on the approaching ground, finally broke free once she felt the protective embrace around her, looking up with shock to see her dearest friend.

"Sev?! But he lost his wand! Why would he…?!" Her thoughts were disjointed, adding only further to the terror in her emerald eyes. All she could think about was how her best friend had seemingly thrown himself after her with no hope of survival. They were falling together, and at that realization, Lily buried her face in Severus' chest, unwilling to accept that they would die together…

The pressure from Lily's head huddled against his chest was all that Severus needed to focus on. His eyes rested on her terror-stricken face, nuzzled so closely to his heart, and he felt his magical core begin to bubble and react like a cauldron brewing a potion. The otherworldly magic that had been taught to him by Lord Voldemort began to take shape. The air surrounding them was bending and ebbing as his magical core, his very soul, was willing the rushing winds of their descent to change direction. With one mighty burst of will, at last subjugating the air completely, the momentum of the two young friends shifted forwards instead of downwards.

Lily's eyes opened after a few moments in absolute astonishment...Her best friend's robes were billowing like a vortex surrounding them; no longer could she feel the tug of gravity as Death was so close to claiming them both…

Instead, she and Severus were flying through the skies around Hogwarts, the moonlight reflecting off of the glassy waters of the Great Lake on the horizon...

Author's Note: Whew. That was certainly something to write. I knew at some point soon I wanted to introduce Severus' ability to fly, and to put it to good use in a situation that warranted using it. I wanted there to be some irony in a spell invented by Voldemort, Lily's original murderer, being used to save her life this time around. At some point in the story I'm going to explain how my interpretation of Unsupported Flight works. If it were as simple as regular magic, I think the answer would've been discovered ages before Voldemort was even born. The fact that he is the wizard who accomplished it tells me that on top of requiring a great deal of magical power, there's also likely something a bit more sinister in how it works, something which I hope I can put into a more coherent explanation later on in the story, though I tried to hint at it during my visual description of what was going on. If you look closely at how I wrote it here, you'll see why I classify it as Dark Magic, though it was certainly used for good in this situation.

A lot happened in a very short span of time during this chapter, more unanswered questions which I'll hopefully shed some light on shortly. Why did Peter so boldly attack Lily? What will Lily think of Severus' newly revealed ability of flight? How will he explain it to her? Have the Marauders stopped Pettigrew's escape? WILL SATURDAY EVER GET HERE SO I CAN REVEAL THE MEANING OF THAT RUNE?!

All will be answered and more later. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up for you guys sometime during the weekend, but time will tell as always. Once again, I can't thank you all enough for the feedback Tempus Vita is receiving, and would love to hear what you all have to say upon reading this chapter. Reviews are BY FAR the most effective way to let your voices be heard and leave your feedback. I read every single review the story receives, and so many of them have been helpful in making my plans of where to go next, what twists to put in, things of that nature. Thanks once again for taking the time to read, and I hope to continue it for you all soon!