Lily slipped out of the portrait, giving a half-hearted wave to a smirking Evanna before hurrying down the corridor towards the Gryffindor Common Room with her cheeks flaming. She gave a small smile to the Fat Lady – who was talking to her friend from the portrait downstairs, Violet – and was surprised when the portrait hole swung right open without her speaking at all. "It's the holidays," said the Fat Lady tipsily, "and, besides, you've been here for seven years and we haven't been here long enough to brew any sort of potion and I'm pretty sure none of the seventh years can do a glamour charm… so… happy birthday!" Lily giggled nervously and slipped through, leaning against the nearest armchair with a sigh of relief.
A blur of blonde hair launched at her from the loveseat across from her, and Alice tackled her onto the carpet with a giddy grin. "Where have you been?" she demanded, perching on her stomach and looking down at her with narrowed brown eyes and a small frown knitting her eyebrows together. "I've been waiting for you for three hours now and Sirius even stopped by to laugh at me!"
She chuckled and sat up, rubbing her stomach. "Merlin, Alice, I feel like a Hippogriff just sat on me," she groaned, propping herself up on the coffee table with a small smirk. "Did you put on weight over the summer or did you just decide to show me how fat you really are now?"
Alice aimed a kick to her shins and rolled her eyes. "Where have you been?" she repeated adamantly, looking eagerly down at her.
"If you simply must know, I've been with a new friend today," she said. "You know Hermione Granger joined last night, right?" Alice nodded. "I talked to her and we became friends by the lake. We splashed around for a bit and then she took me to her private rooms on the third floor. Then we talked for a while and she's a very, very kind person. She's a nineteen year old muggleborn who skipped out on her seventh year to help in the war."
"Why does she have a private room?" inquired Alice, leaning forward.
Lily sighed. "She came here during the summer holidays and McGonagall wasn't here so she hadn't reset the password or given her the old one. So Dumbledore gave her one of the old guest rooms. Then Dumbledore came in to talk to her about something or other. Oh, and, by the way, leave the Fat Lady alone for a while – she's hopelessly drunk."
Alice giggled and sat up, offering a hand to Lily. "Well, then, why don't we ask her to room with us in the dormitories? Marlene and Cassie told me they were arriving late this year so we have them all to ourselves for a while. Do you want to go and paint our nails and talk about boys?"
"Oh Merlin no, that's their thing. Let's be weird for one night, OK? Before the forces of evil dim the dorm again?" said Lily, and Alice nodded her agreement before the two of them linked arms and skipped to their usual homework spot in the corner of the Common Room. "So… how do we be weird?"
"Let's consult the kings of weird, 'kay?" suggested Alice, and Lily cast a nervous glance towards the Marauders, who were raucously laughing by the fire and attempting to entertain a few second years. "Please, Lily? Pretty please with a cherry on top? Pretty please with freaking sugar! I'll pay you!"
She laughed and relented, allowing her best friend to grab her arm and tug her by the wrist to the other side of the Common Room. "What was the point of sitting down if you just drag me away a few seconds later, Alice?" she wondered aloud as her friend gave a small snort before shoving her in front of her, using her as a shield as they entered the small circle the Marauders had made with their chairs before the fire.
James was draped over both arms of the chair, the stolen Snitch hovering above his head, which was lolling over the edge of the sofa which, coincidentally, messed up his hair more than it usually looked. Sirius and Remus were wrestling boisterously on the carpets with their hair mussed and their grins ever-present as they bellowed half-hearted insults at each other. Peter was squeaking out high-pitched laughter; he had joined the boys in the Common Room after their time at the lake and had been with them ever since.
"That's absurd!" roared Sirius, through barked laughter as he rolled over to pin Remus by his wrists, who was laughing uncontrollably.
"You're absurd!" bellowed Remus.
"Say that again!"
"You're absurd!"
"That's absurd!"
The two them fell about laughing, Sirius propped against the coffee table and Remus clutching his sides and doubling over, his back straight on the ground. Lily smiled fondly and collapsed in a loveseat and Alice rolled her eyes before perching on the coffee table beside the estranged Black. "What brings you here, girls?" asked James calmly, though they could see the twitch of his lips as he looked at them.
Lily huffed and folded her arms. "Well excuse me if I didn't know that this Common Room belonged to the almighty James Potter…"
Alice slapped Lily upside the head and ignored her protests, smiling. "Well, Cassie and Marlene aren't back until tomorrow because they're going to be late for term this year. We were wondering if we could hang out with you lot tonight. We need to be weird for a while and you are the weirdest people we know," she added, and Lily gave a snort of laughter before she clamped a hand over her mouth with her eyes wide.
Remus burst out laughing again, having just caught his breath, and Sirius barked another laugh before slinging an arm around Alice's waist. She elbowed him roughly in the ribs and he drew back, frowning in mock-hurt. "I'm in love with Frank, idiot," she growled, standing up and sitting at the base of James' chair. "Besides, I don't go for idiots."
"Do you go for pathetic losers, then?" asked a tired voice from behind them, and Hermione grinned weakly before collapsing beside Alice with a sigh of relief. "Ugh, I hate talking about my life – I've had the worst possible day in the whole freaking world!"
"You want to bet?" asked Lily dryly before slipping to her knees beside Hermione, grinning at Alice. "Alice, this is Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is Alice Prewett."
"Hi, Hermione," said Alice, elbowing Lily out of the way and offering her hand to Hermione, who smiled tiredly and took it. "Are you alright? You look like a Hippogriff just sat on your mother."
Hermione smiled. "Yeah, I feel like it to," she agreed, tilting her head back to grin up at James. "Hello, pathetic," she said, and he grinned. "It's been around three hours since I last saw you."
He nodded, grinning still. "Hey, Herman," he said, and she flinched before scowling up at him. "Did something happen that we're not supposed to know about?" James leaned forward eagerly, and Sirius followed his lead, beaming at her and tugging at her slightly-less bushy hair as she rolled her eyes and shook her head fondly.
"Nothing you should worry your delicate little head about, James," she said tiredly, patting his head patronisingly as he pouted childishly about her. "You know, just had to pour out my soul to people I hardly know. Nothing major." Lily snorted again and Alice giggled while Remus rolled his eyes and Sirius barked another laugh and James groaned.
"Who's up for a walk?" she said, leaping to her feet suddenly and bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement as Alice joined her, latching onto her arm and proclaiming, "Oh, I like her!" to the Marauders, who grinned and stood as Lily gaped at them.
"You can't be serious?"
"No, that's me," said Sirius cheekily, earning a swat on the arm for it as Lily sighed and stood up, taking Hermione's other arm and glaring mock-threateningly up at her. "If you kill me, woman, my mother would thank you."
Hermione giggled and shook her head, bouncing out of the portrait hole with Alice, who grinned at her and beckoned a gaping Lily after them. James and Sirius linked arms with Remus and followed their lead, beaming as Peter squeaked out an apology and scurried upstairs. "Come on, I know the perfect…" she trailed off as she came face-to-face with a frowning Severus Snape, who was wearing his dressing-gown and looked as if he hadn't slept in days.
Lily almost ran into her back, peering over her shoulder to see what was happening. She made a noise of disgust and made to tug Hermione and Alice behind her on the way down the corridor, but Snape had grabbed her arm out of desperation. "Please, Lily, forgive me. I'll do anything…"
"Would you forgive me, Snape?" snarled Lily, pulling on Hermione's arm, but the girl stayed fixed in place for a moment before taking a step towards him. He looked at her desperately, as though she could have changed her mind, but she just stared at him. "Come on, Hermione, he's a Death Eater!"
"Is he?" asked Hermione curiously. "Because I think that pushing him away is more likely to make him one than save him from Lord Voldemort, don't you think?" Lily seemed to splutter for a moment and gape between her and Snape, who looked relieved and thankful and angered all at the same time. "You remind me of someone I used to know," she said after a moment, and Snape's eyes narrowed. "We all hated him for a long, long time because we thought he was a Death Eater, when he turned out to be a double-agent for Dumbledore. He was the bravest man we ever knew."
Snape looked pleadingly at Lily. The Marauders stood behind Alice, who looked as though she was very shocked, and they weren't much better, but Hermione ploughed on. "Don't judge people on their words, Lily, it's their actions that matter and their choices that make it better. Had he moved on and ignored you, I would have hated him, too. But he hasn't given up on you, and you shouldn't either."
Lily protested. "I'm done associating with Death Eaters, Hermione. You know full well what they're capable of yourself – you did help in the war – and he's chosen his path. We've chosen ours, haven't we?" she paused as she looked up at Hermione, who looked sadly down at her.
"Yes, Lily, I know what they're capable of," she said quietly, turning to Snape, whose face had gone utterly blank for a moment. "But that's why we should be helping them to turn away from Voldemort. You aren't like the cold-blood killers I've faced before, and if we keep shunning him then he very well might turn into that person. This is why we have to help them, because if we don't they'll turn out like Voldemort. In a way, all you've done by ignoring and hating him is helping him choose what side of the war he's on, Lily. People can hold grudges for a very long time and you don't want anything happening to the people you love, do you? If you can't forgive him for yourself, because Dumbledore had told me how happy you had been with him, then forgive him for those you love."
"But he called me a Mudblood, Hermione! I can't forgive him for that!"
Hermione huffed and folded her arms. "I've had that all of my life, Lily, because of my blood heritage. I know how much it hurts, trust me. But it's just a bloody word! I will never understand why people are so afraid of a word or so deeply hurt by a word that they can ignore childhood memories and shun the people they love! If you fear a name it only increases your fear of the thing itself, and if you're terrified of a word then why are you living?"
Alice nodded suddenly. "Like L-Lord V-V-Voldemort," she stammered, and Lily inhaled sharply while the Marauders looked at her incredulously. "Of course! That's how he plans on gaining power, because if we fear his name, it only increases our fear of who he is and not what he has done! Hermione, I may have only just met you, but I know you're a genius."
"Mudblood is just a word," murmured Hermione, placing her hands on Lily's shoulders and looking down at her shaking form with sorrowful eyes. "That's all it is – a word. And if you fear words then what will you do with your life? How will you react if you get called that word? I learnt a long time ago that if you hide from someone because you fear them it will get you nowhere. Hiding gets you nowhere. And why hide from a word, anyway? That's all it is, a word. So why fear a word or a name? It only makes you fear the thing itself without you realising what it is. I know better than others that you can overcome your fear of a word, Lily.
"But I still can't forgive him!"
Hermione sighed and turned her head towards the Fat Lady, who grinned tipsily at her before passing out against the doorframe. "If you're around people who say words like that and you're taught the word isn't bad as you grow up, would you have used it?" Lily nodded slowly, biting her lip. "If you're shunned from the world because you're in a certain house, would you have hated others?" Lily nodded again. "Then why blame him for using that word? You would do the same. He was taught the word was OK, and you can't blame him for using it if you would do the same as he did."
Lily turned to Snape and he looked at her hopefully. She sized him up for a moment before flinging herself forwards, wrapping her arms around him tightly and apologizing profusely over and over again. "I shouldn't have said it," replied Snape, squeezing her just as tightly as she began to cry silently. "I'm sorry."
"Thank you," muffled Lily over her shoulder at Hermione, who only smiled in reply and took a step backwards toward the Marauders. "I'm sorry, Severus…"
"How about that walk, then?" said Hermione softly, grabbing Alice and James by their arms and towing them down the corridor in the other direction, leaving Lily and Severus to get to know each other again.