Chapter Three: Voodoo Lily

Within a couple days of the mind-reading incident, Severus Snape was beginning to suspect that Lily Evans wasn't nearly as innocent as she pretended to be. On the surface she was the prime example of the well-rounded Hogwarts girl. She had astounding grades, sparkling beauty, she was responsible, she stuck her neck out for what was right- her teachers, family, and peers all loved her and she was quite frankly the fish that all of the boys in Hogwarts wanted to catch…

But something about her story just did not stick with Severus. How was it possible to be the favorite among her teachers and not spark jealousy among other students? How could she capture ever boys attention and be respected by her parents? These things were possible but she did it so effortlessly. Slowly he began to work out that it had to be a façade. Lily Evans couldn't possibly be perfect.

He began to realize this when one day in Transfiguration she blew a kiss across to room to one James Potter. Her lipstick smeared ever-so-slightly on her two fingers as she shyly winked to him. Severus saw his blushing reaction as he stared in utter disbelief. A few seconds too late, James caught the kiss in mid-air and held it dramatically to his heart, earning a snort from Sirius. Perfectly natural situation… except she was simultaneously squeezing his left knee underneath the desk. He raised his eyebrows as high as possible.

She didn't look at him, but those nails (chipped pink nail polish- digging into his thigh) were definitely hers. She let go only to take occasional notes.

Severus' gut clenched furiously, What the hell? What is she playing at? Did she really think that he would just sit and let her blow kisses to her boyfriend while touching him? He made to push off her offending hand… but when he grabbed her hand… she grabbed back and held onto it. Their sweaty palms touched in the most exotic way, like a bit of their souls were touching through warm flesh. He blushed, reflecting that he had never felt anyone this intimately. Black eyes met green ones for the briefest of moments…

"Mr. Snape!" McGonagall screeched in that horrible way that only the head of Gryffindor could. Under the table they let go instantly. "I suggest you stop playing footsy and pay attention! Are those three lines the only ones you've written during the entire class?"

He distantly felt his ears, face and neck turn bright pink instantly. He caught a glimpse of Sirius mouthing the words "footsy?" a few feet away. He stood up quickly, "I'm sorry, Ma'am."

"Ten points from Slytherin!" She hissed, "I would have expected better from you, Snape."

She expects better from me? He thought at first before glancing at the furious face that was James Potter. Hippogriffs didn't give stares this cold.

Try as he might, he couldn't catch Lily's green eyes for the rest of the class

His back hit the concrete wall with a distinct smack. The raw, bruising skin remained poised against the stones. At least one side of his body was protected there. "How are you doing, Snivellus?" muttered Sirius, his wand jabbing into the soft skin of Severus' throat. He had that maniacal look in his eyes now, and Snape knew from experience that that look meant pain. His eyes and jaw resembled a dog that could smell fresh, raw, bleeding meat…

Dead meat. He was dead meat.

"Define 'footsy' for us, Snivellus," Sirius growled, an entertained satisfaction in his voice.

"I don't…" he began to whisper.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO EVANS, SLIME?" James bellowed in his left ear.

Snape was shivering now. How could he battle with this? Coward, coward, coward… "You look like you're scare of me, scared little sniveling Snivellus," said Sirius in a mock-soothing voice. "But really, I'm doing you a favor. You see, James here, Potter to you, slime ball, would have killed you on sight." Snape didn't doubt it, James looked blood-thirsty… "But that would have landed him a one-way trip to Azkaban and I would be very sad here all by myself. So we agreed, James wouldn't kill you, instead I would just torture you."

He made to push Sirius off. But instantly a thwack met the side of his face. His neck whipped to the side, his nose feeling lopsided. Coppery tasting liquid leaked into his mouth. His robes were now covered in his own blood.

A twang of relief echoed inside of him. James hadn't had the patience to use a spell- he simply punched him in the nose.

"Loo-k, id's knodt what dou dink ih is," he pleaded with difficulty.

"NOT WHAT I THINK IT IS?" James exploded. "I THINK YOU WERE TOUCHING MY GIRLFRIEND YOU FUCKING WORM!" James socked him in the middle, and Snape felt his organs explode like water balloons. His eyes bugged; the wind was knocked out of him. He hugged himself and fell to the floor.

"I diddnn…" he stammered, the blood trickling down his face.

Long, slender legs blurred his vision. "What's going on here," said Lily's casual voice. Severus squeezed his eyes shut, like a two-year-old who believed that shutting his eyes would erase the outside world. He wished it would now. A new kind of fear constricted his chest- he didn't want Lily to see him like this, all bleeding and cowering and pathetic. He wanted for her to see him strong… to be half as strong as she is…

With a lurch he stood up, the throbbing in his side subsiding. A burst of injustice was rebutted with burst of insight, "Fuck dou, Podder. Evans idnt your girlfend, she doddn't belong to dou. Che can choose who che wandts."

Lily raised a slender, red eyebrow at him. He attempted to wipe the blood off of his face.

James' mouth gaped open. "I know that," James said. He had a weakness in his voice as he pleaded to Evans, "You know I know that, don't you?"

They stared at each other a long time. "I know," Lily said finally. Fire licked Severus' insides. "Potter, he's right, though. You forget sometimes." She walked that sexy walk over to where Severus was leaning against the wall. She looked him right in the eyes, a whole different person dwelled behind them, "But even so… he touched my leg…"

A series of explosions followed. Sirius' arm wrapped around his neck while James screeched, "HE TOUCHED YOUR FUCKING LEG?" A wand touched his sensitive neck once more. But the most earthshaking was the explosion in his own gut. She lied. She fucking lied. Why would she lie? Does she like seeing him slapped around? James looked joyously psycho, "Ooooh… Snivellus…" he poked his chin with the end of his wand. "What curse to use?"

Why isn't she stopping him? He tried to look into those mindless green orbs… to get a reason why she would let him bleed when she was fond of him. But a lead weight dropped in his stomach. Was she fond of him? He loved her, yes. But she had never told him that she loved him, she never even said if she liked him. My God, he thought, was she baiting me? Why?

"Let me do it," she said in a voice that wasn't her own. "I've got a good one." She pointed her wand to the tip of his long, greasy nose.

He closed his eyes again, willing himself not to cry (not to live up to his nickname-Snivellus…). Why is she doing this? he prayed desperately, Why? He willed back the moisture forming at the corners of his eyes. She muttered a spell that he couldn't hear. He wished it were Avada Kedavra. The ringing in his ears blocked all thought.

Until, the ringing subsided. Warm water seemed to be caressing the top of his greasy head, then behind his ears, then to the tip of his dead ends. The soaked-head feeling evaporated and left him wondering what the hell happened. "Oh, Evans!" erupted Sirius. "That was fucking brilliant!" James' derisive laugh echoed from farther away. Heavy footsteps retreated… they're leaving! But Severus didn't dare open his eyes until the three pairs of footsteps couldn't be heard anymore.

He slid down the wall, his body and mind dull with pain. A strand of hair fell into his eyes. He grabbed it, examining it with widened eyes. "Bloody hell…"

She had turned his hair pink.