A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, and I'm sorry this took so long to publish again...luckily, summer's almost here!

Severus' heart thumped wildly against his chest as he watched the group of Slytherins enter the classroom for their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson with the Gryffindors; Lily was nowhere in sight. Malfoy and Black were already here, as was Pettigrew and Mulciber and some other Slytherins he didn't recognize. The Melika girl was probably still up in the Hospital Wing, and as the last few stragglers rushed into the room, Severus began to fret whether Lily had been attacked as well.

He needn't have worried, however: just as he was about to go searching for her, Lily came running into the room, looking slightly harassed. Upon seeing his friend alive and well, Severus collapsed back into his seat and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where were you?" he demanded when Lily came over and sat in between him and Sirius.

"Sorry Sev…I was having the most fascinating conversation with Regulus and I lost track of the time—"

Behind her, Sirius gagged. "I'm sorry, but did you just say 'fascinating' and 'Regulus' in the same sentence?"

Lily's cheeks reddened. "Yes. And I must say it's nice to know there are some brains in the Black family after all."

Contrary to the insulted expression Lily had been expecting, Sirius simply grinned. "Aww, Evans…that's no way to talk about 'Cissy!"

"You know I meant you," Lily seethed, unable to bear the supreme arrogance displayed by Gryffindors…except Sev, of course. Well, and Lupin. But the rest were horrible.

To everyone's surprise, the new teacher hadn't shown up yet. It was already five minutes into the class period, and the students were growing restless, wondering what this year's Defense professor would be like. Unsurprisingly, James and Sirius were already making bets with other housemates as to which fate awaited Umbridge at the end of the year.

"Are you okay Sev?" Lily inquired softly after observing him for several moments. Something was off about him today: his forehead was creased with worry, his eyes kept glancing at her uneasily, and his usual scowl was now a deep frown. She had known him too long not to recognize that he was clearly stressed over something.

Severus gave her a long, meaningful look. "So," he began quietly. "Where's your friend Melika?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "That's what's bothering you? Her?"

Severus was immediately taken aback by the unsympathetic tone in his friend's voice. Did she not know what had happened? That had to be the case; he couldn't see Lily so calm about something so serious…

"No…I'm worried about you."

"Me?"

The girlish smile disappeared from her lovely face at once. She knew Severus could be a little overprotective at times, but the way he said some things sent chills down her spine.

"Why?" she whispered, her vivid emerald eyes now widened in fear.

Severus' frown deepened. How could he tell her? She refused to listen to him whenever he mentioned them over the summer; would she stubbornly ignore him now, too? Unfortunately, Lily was immensely loyal to her Slytherin friends now and any criticism about them — even if the evidence against them was overwhelming— would be taken as a personal insult to Lily, seeing that they were her friends. While it was great that Lily had managed to meet new people and finally fit in at Hogwarts, Severus couldn't help but feel as though she was supporting the wrong side. Even when they hurt her, she still remained steadfastly devoted to them. The Malfoys nearly killed her, and instead of confronting the issue head on, she chose to turn a blind eye to it. Severus just could not comprehend the logic behind Lily's thinking.

"Lily," he began slowly, hoping that his calm tone would suppress the outburst he knew was coming at least until he was finished talking. "I…think you're in trouble."

Lily scoffed. "Oh Sev, not this again. Are you going to tell me the Malfoys are trying to kill me again?"

"Well…yes," Severus replied defiantly, hating the mocking laughter behind her words. "Will you please just listen for—"

"No!" Lily snapped furiously. "I'm tired of you trying to scare me away from my friends with those crazy theories of yours—"

"—they're not theories!" Severus replied, feeling his temper rising dangerously. "I heard them! You nearly died, and you're perfectly willing to let that go!"

Lily was speechless. Severus never yelled at her like that. In fact, he was so angry that his normally-pale cheeks were now slightly pink. What hurt the most was the betrayed look in his eyes: why won't you listen to me? Me, your best friend?

Fighting back tears— of fury or misery, she couldn't tell— Lily picked up her book bag and stormed over to the table where Laika and Narcissa were sitting. They greeted her warmly, and Laika even had the nerve to send a nasty glare in Severus' direction. Severus didn't glare back, however; he was too frustrated with Lily's obstinacy to pay attention to Malfoy at the moment. While Lily was undoubtedly the best friend he'd ever had, there were just some times where he wanted to wallop her across the back of her head. She may not listen to him, but he still had another idea in mind…

"I need your help," he whispered to James and Sirius. "Meet me in the—"

Before Severus could finish his sentence, he was struck in the back of the head by what felt like a weighty textbook. At once, his neck jolted forward, then back into place, but the jerkiness of his slow reaction made his eyes water in excruciating pain. His immediate thought was that one of his friends had accidentally done this, but they were just as startled as he was.

"Thirty points from Gryffindor," said a sickeningly sweet voice from behind him. "I never said you may talk in my absence."

Through his fazed vision, Severus could see that Professor Umbridge had finally shown up for class— just in time to punish him for speaking. Thirty points...that was positively ridiculous for such a small offense! Even worse: apparently he had been hit by the ancient book she was carefully caressing in her hands— the sharp bronze rims on the cover were undoubtedly the source of the agonizing sensation that throbbed relentlessly within his skull.

What a horrible way to begin the year, Severus thought furiously as he massaged his neck. The first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the year had barely started and not only was Lily mad at him, but he'd gotten off to a rough start with the new professor as well. Then again, that meant that things could only improve from here on out…right?

xXxXxXxXx

Wrong, Severus silently fumed as he walked away from Umbridge's classroom at the end of the lesson. Between Sirius, James, and him, Gryffindor had lost a total of eighty house points within the span of an hour. Meanwhile, the Slytherins had gained a total of forty points. There was clearly a favouritism problem here. Not one Slytherin had so much as lost a single point for speaking out of turn— even though all of them freely spoke their minds once they realized they could get away with it— and Umbridge was careful to ignore every raised hand from the Gryffindors, ensuring that they never received any points for questions her precious Slytherins could possibly answer.

The blatant discrimination infuriated the three Gryffindor boys, but after Umbridge threatened a week's worth of detentions, each of them was forced to hold their tongue.

Muttering a few punishment-worthy swear words under his breath as he continued along the empty hallways for lunch, Severus soon found that he wasn't alone. Off to the left, whispering excitedly to each other, were Lucius Malfoy and— to Severus' great surprise— Lily. If he had realized this sooner, he would have hidden behind the statue of the one-legged troll and eavesdropped onto their conversation, but it was too late. Lily noticed him first, and the ever-observant Lucius immediately clamped his mouth shut and followed Lily's eyes.

"What are you doing with him?" Severus asked suspiciously, deciding that a direct confrontation might get Lily to listen to him if he could publicly reveal Malfoy as a sham.

Lucius smiled icily. "Ah Lily…still associating yourself with Gryffindors, I see?"

Lily blushed and laughed nervously. "Oh…him? Goodness no—"

Severus didn't hear what else she said; he was too hurt by Lily's stinging words to listen anymore. How could she say that? After all this time…after everything he had done for her...she still refused to admit they were friends in the company of others? Or…what if she really meant it? What if she was so upset over the incident in Defense that she really didn't want to be around him anymore? Severus was terribly inept when it came to understanding the minds of girls, and even his best friend was no exception. Fighting the crazed desire to run up and strangle Malfoy for stealing his friend from him, Severus settled for a murderous glare. Malfoy wasn't intimidated at all by this; in fact, he looked quite amused. Lily wouldn't make eye contact with him, but he could see that her cheeks were still glowing vibrantly.

"Fine then," he snapped, his livid glower directed solely at Lily now. Her helpless green eyes appeared watery, but her continual lack of support said everything. Gone was the Lily who consistently backed Severus— in good times and bad. Although Severus refused to admit it, Lily was becoming more and more like Malfoy everyday. She was slowly progressing into a true Slytherin...and Severus didn't like it at all.

xXxXxXxXx

Poke.

Lucius Malfoy whirled around to face the offender whom had jabbed rather harshly into his side, but there was not a person in sight.

Odd.

He continued along the shadowy corridor, occasionally pausing to gaze out at the night's wondrous full moon and Hogwarts' vast acreage beneath it. He was currently on late night patrol, one of the more cumbersome tasks Dumbledore had assigned to sixth year prefects in an attempt to promote the safety of the students twenty four hours per day, even though nothing ever happened at night. Quite frankly, Lucius felt himself growing very sleepy due to the lack of action, and half considered deserting his post and returning to bed. It must have been at least two in the morning by now, and he had an important exam in Defense Against the Dark Arts in a few hours. Then again, he was not one for studying, so he began formulating plans to trick the dreadful professor's daughter into 'helping him.' Dolores was definitely an intelligent girl, but she too had her weaknesses and it was Lucius' job to find out what they were an exploit them to the fullest extent of his abilities. After all, N.E.W.T.s were next year, and he while he knew what his "career" path would be, he still wished to learn as much as possible before turning his education against those who had taught him in the first place. It was a fine plan indeed.

Poke.

He jumped into a fighting stance— wand out, of course— and called out: "Show yourselves!"

The ghost or intruder was not discouraged by this, however, and after a couple of seconds, it kicked him behind the knees. He was not prepared for this, and fell onto the ground before he could catch himself. On his way down, he could have sworn he heard a snort of laughter.

Peeves.

"Show yourself Peeves! Or I swear I'll go to Dumbledore and have you thrown out of the castle!"

Lucius didn't know if Dumbledore had the ability to force Peeves away from Hogwarts, but the intimidation in his voice ought to cover up his lie. He was exhausted and had better things to do with his time than waste it on disciplining the school prankster. He was so sure that it was the mischievous poltergeist that he was completely stunned to see a pair of slippers suddenly appear out of nowhere on the ground in front of him. Peeves didn't wear slippers did he? And since when did he have the ability to become completely invisible?

The slippers began moving, and Lucius automatically followed. If this was some sort of student prank, he swore he would deplete their house of every last point once he caught them. He kept his wand pointed at what he assumed was the person or ghost's back, waiting for the right moment to strike. The feet moved faster and faster, and Lucius felt himself jogging to catch up. He was headed towards Gryffindor Tower for a while, but then the feet took a sharp turn to the right and led him down a passageway in which Lucius had never been in before. Things were getting a little too suspicious for him, and once he was striking distance, he held up his wand and yelled "Stupefy!"

The invisible being became visible once more: none other than the second year Gryffindor, James Potter, was blasted off of his feet, with a silvery blue cloak following in his wake.

"POTTER!"

James instantly realized he had been found out and sprinted away as Malfoy gave chase. The older blonde boy was much faster than him, thanks to his longer legs, but James wasn't about to give up just yet. Panicking slightly, James threw his cloak over his body, and he vanished on the spot, much to Lucius' irritation.

"Show yourself Potter! I'll be sure to let the headmaster know about this, and you shall lose every last point for your precious house if you don't reveal yourself…now."

James didn't dare take off his cloak, however. Severus wanted him to stick to the plan, and they were so close...in fact, they were here! Grinning to himself and trying not to laugh out loud as Lucius swatted at the air for his invisible figure, James darted over to the closet where his friends were waiting inside.

"Oy! Looking for me?" James shouted, pulling the cloak off. Lucius shot a few Stunning Spells in his direction, but thanks to his youthful agility, James easily dodged these and made it safely inside the room, slamming the door behind him just as Lucius shot a Body Bind Curse at him.

"You're finished, Potter," Lucius hissed as he cautiously opened the door. His eyes peeled the pitch-black room for James, but he couldn't see anything without some lighting.

"Lumos."

"Expelliarmus!"

Lucius had barely seen the tip of his wand glow before a voice from the darkness disarmed him. As soon as his wand was completely out of his grasp, three different wands shot three different spells at him, and within seconds, he was tightly bound to a chair, unable to move or shout out for help.

"Lumos."

Now he could see his captors clearly: Potter, Black, and the greasy git, Snape. The first two looked absolutely delighted to have found Lucius in such a submissive position, but Snape was frowning in concentration. Whatever the Gryffindor trio was planning on doing to him, Lucius inwardly admitted they had planned this out quite thoroughly. His wand was gone, and someone had nailed him with the Petrificus Totalus somewhere in the scuffle a moment ago. It was indeed embarrassing for him, however; while they may be in control of the situation at the present time, Lucius would persuade the headmaster to expel the fools later for attacking a student— a prefect at that!

"What are we going to do to him?" Black asked in a startlingly vicious tone. Perhaps dear Bella had rubbed off on her cousin after all…

"He's going to tell Lily what he did to her last year."

At the flick of Snape's wand, Lucius regained the ability to speak. "I did nothing to dearest Lily—"

"Don't lie," Severus growled fiercely, jabbing the tip of his wand into Lucius' cheek threateningly. Watching the boy's creepy black eyes as he spoke, Lucius found himself wondering how this boy didn't get into Slytherin. He obviously knew some advanced magic, and his persona was the epitome of Slytherin cunningness. What a shame they had gotten a pathetic fool such as Pettigrew instead of him...

"I have nothing to say," Lucius snarled after several moments of silence. "And who are you to think that three second years—" he said jeeringly, "— are able to take on a sixth year? Feeling brave tonight?"

"Oh, I think you might find something to say," Potter replied smugly as Snape held up a tiny vial of clear liquid, which glowed ominously in the light.

"Oh dear, resorting to waterboarding are we?" Lucius sneered, though he knew perfectly well that that couldn't possibly be water. Snape was much too sneaky for that...

"You could just spill your guts now," Black shrugged, looking at Snape as he removed the cork from the vial.

"Or we can have a go at some Veritaserum," Snape added darkly, holding up the liquid so Lucius could see for himself what it was.

Lucius chuckled disapprovingly. "Stealing from Slughorn's personal stores? You three must truly desire expulsion from Hogwarts...no matter, that can easily be arranged..."

"I didn't steal it," Snape smirked evilly. "I made it. Though there's always a good chance that I messed up and this fatally poisonous, but I suppose that's a chance we'll have to take—"

"Wait!"

Lucius, still silently cursing the fact that he was completely and utterly powerless against these infuriating boys, worried whether Snape was bluffing about the poison part, but he certainly wasn't about to find out. Oh, they were in so much trouble once Lucius got out of this…

"What do you wish for me to do?"

Snape did not smile at this obvious hint of surrender, knowing what obstacles lay ahead of them. As mad as he was at Lily, he still wanted her to be safe. The only way to keep her away from the wrong people was making them tell her of their offences against her in person. He figured that while Lily may indeed be growing apart from him, he wasn't just going to sit there and let it happen. Showing her how much he cared about her by looking out for her best interests would hopefully bring her back to the "right" side again. At least that was Severus' plan…

"Why should I?" Lucius demanded after the trio had informed him of his upcoming task. According to the boys, he was supposed to tell Lily of what had really happened the year before, thus incriminating both himself and Laika and keeping Lily away from them in the future. Lucius personally preferred the girl to remain completely oblivious to everything: she was much easier to…persuade, and Lucius desperately required her help for a mission…

Then again, this was one opportunity Lucius couldn't ignore. The probability of his own quickly-formulating plan succeeding— not only at retaining Lily's servitude to Slytherin, but getting the three boys expelled from Hogwarts for this attack— was very good. Luckily for him, he seemed to be the only person who saw the glaring flaw in their scheme: there was no stopping him if he so wished to go and tell Dumbledore of what the boys had done. He had given his word that he would speak with Lily— only after Snape had threatened to stuff him in some strange piece of furniture called a 'Vanishing Cabinet'— but he purposely failed to clarify what exactly he would say to her beyond telling her of what he did last year. It was the perfect plan, and he couldn't wait to see the looks on the boys' faces when they found out how much trouble they were in for assaulting him…

A/N: I suppose I don't have much to say for this chapter...well, if you think Severus didn't notice that "flaw" then I'm afraid you're mistaken...

Any comments/constructive criticism is appreciated, and I'll try to reply to all reviews ASAP this time :)