Author's note: Edited for grammar. Thank you to my beta editor Fainting Fancies 122509

Chapter 3 – An Old Friend

Snape was not at all comfortable lying in his own bed next to a stranger. This woman that had just saved his life was only inches from his naked body as they lay together bundled under a pile of quilts and blankets. She looked like a vision from his past, an angel that had suddenly come to life, but this could not be real. Was he hallucinating or worse yet, had he gone mad?

Bristling with suspicion, Severus knew this must be a trick. "And why should I listen to you? Surely, you are here to do me evil. Perhaps, you are a Death Eater in disguise, ready to take revenge on a traitor. Tell me!" he challenged, the spark in his eyes coming back as the warmth seeped slowly back into his body. "Or, are you a devil sent to torment me?"

Propping herself up on one elbow, Lily stared into his eyes. "You saw for yourself. My memory was revealed to you – rather rudely, I might add." Lifting an eyebrow, she poked her finger at his arm. "Did you forget that day? The day you called me a Mudblood?"

"Never," he whispered. "It haunts me always."

"And do you remember what I called you?" she smiled back at him, her eyes twinkling.

"I do not think this is relevant," Severus glowered. "I am still waiting for an explanation." His face now flushed, his emotions were wildly vacillating between anger, hope and fear. There was also an undeniable, intense curiosity.

Tilting her head slightly so that her thick, dark red hair tumbled down against her face, Lily reached over to touch his bare chest, but before contact was made, Snape grasped her wrist hard and held it. Struggling against his grip, she gritted her teeth. "Snivelus, I called you Snivelus, remember? Now, let go of me," she demanded breathlessly.

With a disgusted grunt, he released her and pushed her hand back. "You have no right. Where did you steal that memory? Was it taken from Harry Potter? He had seen it in the Pensieve. No one else knew. They rest of them are all dead."

"I'm trying to tell you, Sev, that they aren't all dead. I'm still here. Won't you please listen? Trust your instincts."

"It seems my instincts are not working very well today," he replied softly, before once again letting the anger slip back into his tone. "And, if I'm going to have to listen to some ridiculous tale, I will not do so lying naked in bed. Turn you head away from me, woman. I need to get dressed."

"I don't know what you're all embarrassed about. I've seen you naked plenty of times, starting with the time I dared you to take your pants off, remember?" Lily smirked. "What were we? Thirteen?"

Despite himself, a slight flicker of a smile crossed his lips. "If I recall, you refused to let me see your … ah … unclothed …" Severus cleared his throat.

"Breasts?" Lily laughed. "Well, I didn't have much then."

"I imagined they were … ah … quite beautiful," Severus said quietly, looking away from her almost shyly. But then, he shook his head, angry with himself, his impatience returning. "Very well, I will give you a chance to explain. You have convinced me that there may be more to this story." Forcing himself to be cautious, a small swell of hope began to rise in his soul, but Severus was determined not to let it overcome his rational mind.

"Yes, well … you need to know this, Severus. Just promise me you'll listen - to the whole story. You can ask questions, but you have to hear me out." Beseechingly, she looked at him, the green eyes meeting the black.

Severus nodded. He could never deny her.

"Listen, Sev, let me get us some tea," she offered, "and I'll let you get dressed. I'll meet you in your office."

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Strangely, as if she'd been to his apartment many times before, she went to a cupboard near the fireplace and pulled out a couple bags of Earl Grey tea and a small battered teapot. Within minutes, the tea was ready, and she was sitting before his desk, patiently waiting.

Dressed once more in his familiar, black, frock coat, Severus walked slowly around her, his eyes scanning her up and down taking a careful measure of the woman sitting calmly in the chair before him. Silently, he stood beside her with his arms crossed.

"I didn't want you to find out like this, you know," Lily said.

"And how were you going to tell me? With fireworks and wand writing? Perhaps in a letter? Or maybe you'd just pop into one of my classes. 'Hello, Professor, it's been such a long time …'" Severus snarled at her, his statements dripping with sarcasm.

"I … was … afraid," she answered meekly.

"Afraid? An infamous Gryffindor? I do not think so."

Feeling tears begin to well up, Lily shook her head. "You don't understand."

"That is correct, I do not! Please," he replied coldly. "Explain!" His feelings were so raw that he knew he had to be careful. His acid tongue could inflict deep wounds, and he did not want that - at least not yet. Swooping around to the other side of his desk, he sat down and touched his fingertips together, concentrating on control.

"Where shall I begin?"

"How about with your supposed death?" Severus asked, his voice now calm and even. "You fooled even Dumbledore."

"No, I need to go further back. I need to explain … about James." She looked at her hands and could not meet his judgmental gaze. The pain was too intense.

Severus remained quiet. His throat was constricted entirely too tightly to provide even an attempt at speech.

"I loved him, Severus. You have to understand that," she said quietly.

She lifted her eyes toward him, but he had looked away, his gaze unreadable.

"But, I only ever began to … see him after I … oh, God, I need to tell you this." Struggling, she looked up at him, her eyes swimming with tears. "Severus, I loved you. I just … I knew I lost you. The Dark Arts. They stole you from me."

"Lily," he began, his voice crackling, his pain vivid and clear. "I was not thinking clearly."

"I know," she paused. "I know that now, but I was so young then. I didn't understand."

"Please, forgive me," he murmured.

Nodding silently, she wiped a tear from her cheek, still unable to meet his gaze. "There were so many rumors. I heard stories of what the Death Eaters … what they did to people. And every time I heard of the killings, I --"

"Don't …" he spoke softly. "You have no idea. I am not blameless. I am … I have many regrets."

"You don't have to explain, Severus."

Somberly, Severus arose from his chair and walked to the wall turning his back to her. "I am not a good man, Lily."

"Oh, Sev. Yes, you are. I know you are." She jumped up and went to him, turning him toward her. "You've proved it a hundred times over."

Opening his mouth to speak, he hesitated, his obsidian eyes staring at her, begging forgiveness, his heart open and vulnerable. Only to this miraculous woman before him could he lay open his soul.

"I did it for you," he whispered. "I betrayed the Dark Lord only for you."

"No, Severus. You did it because it was the right thing to do."

"Perhaps …" he answered looking at the floor.

"After I'd lost you, a part of me died. You have to realize that James came to me at a time when I needed someone. I had a broken heart. Do you understand?"

"Yes, but … why Potter? You always said he was a toe rag."

Smiling sadly, she answered, "He wasn't, you know. He was as bad as you, sometimes, with his judgments of people, but he was a good man."

"As bad as me? He was an arrogant arse. Never following rules, thinking he owned the world." Severus was bitter and always would be.

"This story isn't about him, Severus."

Not responding, Snape just waived his hand dismissively and shook his head, the pain too strong.

Sighing, Lily smoothed the cloth of her robes, still avoiding his eyes. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "As you know, Voldemort came after us that night."

"Because I told him about the prophecy. Did you know that?"

"Yes. Dumbledore told me."

"Dumbledore? When did he –"

Lily interrupted, "Wait. That comes later. Let me finish."

Snape lifted his eyes to stare at her. He would need to put his feelings aside for the moment. Objectivity was needed, but it would take all the willpower he possessed.

"So, you were hiding in Godric's Hollow."

"Yes. It happened just as I'm sure you've heard. Voldemort killed James, and then he came after Harry and me. I wouldn't let him kill my son. I didn't care about myself. All I wanted was to save Harry, so I pleaded with him, asked for pity. But I think you know, if anyone does, that he just didn't care. He just laughed, threw up his arm and pointed his wand at Harry, so I leapt in front of it."

"That's when you were killed," Severus stated softly.

"That's what everyone thought – that I was murdered. I'm sure you heard the story about how my motherly love saved Harry. Well, it was Dumbledore's theory that the love was sort of a two-way thing - a bond between Harry and me. It was that love that saved Harry, and I suppose it saved me too."

Nodding, Severus just listened, not knowing what to believe.

"I don't remember anything after that. Not until I woke up in a coffin."

"My God, Lily."

"Yes, you can't imagine. There was absolutely no sound, except for my breathing. And the pain, it was incredible. My chest was crushed, my sternum shattered. I think since they thought I was dead, the healers didn't even try to repair it."

"What did you do?"

"Luckily, they had set my wand in the casket. I simply Apparated away."

"To where?"

"Godric's Hollow. I had to see what happened to James and Harry. When I saw the house … destroyed … I …" Lily couldn't go on. The tears began to flow as they always did when she relived those horrible moments.

"Harry was alive," Severus stated quietly.

"Yes, yes, but I didn't know that. You should have seen that house. It was completely in ruins. I knew in my heart that no one could have survived." Sobbing, she conjured a handkerchief and held it up to her eyes, trying to hide her face behind it. How many times had she cried? There were always more tears. Always.

Letting Lily take a few moments to compose herself, Severus then asked, "What did you do then?"

"I collapsed in the road. Maybe I lost consciousness. I'm not sure. I was very weak. Luckily, someone found me. Some stranger, I think. Maybe it was Dumbledore. I never found out. But, thankfully, they took me to St. Mungo's." Recovering from her tears, Lily cleared her throat and continued. "I was very ill. The killing curse was slowly poisoning me. Some of it had been deflected, but there was still enough of it circulating in my body to make me deathly ill. From what Dumbledore told me later, they needed to call in a specialist—a special Dart Arts healer." A shy smile returned to her face. "Years later, Dumbledore told me that it was you that saved me."

"What?" Severus said incredulously.

"I suppose you don't remember."

Frowning, Snape searched his memories frantically trying to remember the event so long ago. "I was brought to St. Mungo's to help with several cases. After the first war, they had many injuries that the healers couldn't cure. No one had the skills or the knowledge to treat the wounds, but I had some experience. As you probably remember, I had been studying the Dark Arts since I was a child. It fascinated me. Over the years and with a great amount of trial and error, I was able to perfect some marginal treatments, especially for those wounds that were potion- induced. I was instructed to try to save some of the unfortunates that had survived. However, I was not very successful." Sadly, Severus recalled the feeling of helplessness as he watched so many of the warriors die. "But, I don't think I could have missed the fact that I was treating you."

"From what I was told, they hid my face and just showed you my chest wound."

"It seems highly unlikely." He frowned and shook his head before he remembered a horrible case where a woman's chest had been completely caved in, almost crumpled, the heart visible and beating weakly before his eyes. "I do recall one victim that Dumbledore brought to me. He had hidden the woman's identity because she had been one of his spies. At least that's what he told me."

"That was me." Smiling sadly, she undid her blouse and revealed the old wound, now healed, on her chest, directly between her breasts. It looked like a hellish sun with scars radiating away from a deep impression in the center.

Severus stared at it silently before lowering his gaze as the memory came flooding back.

"It was you," he admitted in a low voice, his heart aching for her.

"Thank you, Severus. It was very brave of you."

"Brave? No, I was simply following Dumbledore's orders. I didn't care who lived or died at that point."

"He told me what you did … asking for Dumbledore's help when … you knew Voldemort was after us." Lily spoke the words quietly, but her heart was filled with love for him. "You came to my rescue."

"I am no hero, Lily. I didn't care about James or Harry. All I could think about was you. As I said before, I am not a good man. I was - am - very selfish."

Lily reached up and took his head in her hands. "No," she said, a tear falling down her cheek. "You are a very good man. Severus … oh my dear, Severus …"

Looking down into her green eyes he threw his arms around her, crushing her to his chest. Laying his head on her shoulder, he shuddered as the emotions overwhelmed him.

"Wait," Lily said in a whisper. "I hear voices. Someone's coming."