James' response to this was incredibly out of character. For once, he was speechless.
"I- what?' James seemed stunned beyond all belief that the butt monkey of his endless pranks wasn't finding any humiliation in having a girl stand up for him.
"I said,' Severus was thoroughly unsure as to where this bravery was coming from, but he did appreciate the change. 'I am damn well lucky to have Lily as my friend, somebody kind, courageous and,' Severus cleared his throat, 'beautiful, while I feel sorry for your friends.'
"Because their apparent leader' continued Severus, raising his voice so that the majority of the onlooking crowd could overhear him, 'is a terrible bully, who can only find delight in picking on people different from he, people who are too weak to stand up to him."
Severus was shaking by now. The crowd simply stared at him in bewilderment, and in confusion. This outburst was very much out of character for the 15 year old Severus, and perhaps even for the 20 year old Severus whose soul lived inside his 15 year old body. So Severus hung his head, grabbed his bag and his red book, and headed out of the courtyard.
"What a load of rubbish, that Snivellus.' Sirius shouted loudly. Much of the crowd laughed in agreement.
"You be nice to Severus!' shouted Lily. 'He's never treated you boys as terribly as you treat him!"
Severus, who was pacing in an outdoor corridor, unsure of what to do or where to go, halted in mid-step. Lily wasn't mad at him, as far as he could tell, and he finally felt like it was worth it to have gone back in time. Head hanging low, he grinned as he kept walking. The clock in the clock tower chimed, and Severus knew that it was time for supper.
Supper that night was rather uneventful. Severus sat between Avery and Mulciber, who were quick to notice that he was being unusually quiet that night.
"Got something on your mind, Sev?' asked Mulciber, mouth full of roast chicken.
"Yeah,' continued Avery, in mid swallow of the corn and pean salad. 'Usually you love talking about all 'em effin Mudbloods."
Severus, who was watching Lily talk animatedly to Mary on the other side of the hall, simply muttered. He was not paying any attention at all, and was delighted to see that Potter and his group sat as far away from Lily as humanely possible. Severus watched as James looked over at Lily repeatedly, as he continuously ran his hand through his hair, but got repeatedly shot down with a dirty look from Lily.
"Severus?' Avery nudged Severus with his elbow. 'You sure you're alright?" His tone was as sympathetic as it could be: evidently, he cared for his friend.
Severus' attention pulled away from the Gryffindor table, and he nodded briskly.
"Yeah, 'm fine.' he said curtly. 'Just got something on my mind, that's all."
The weather was still warm after supper, and the setting sun gave off a rather impressive orange hue over the grounds. Many fifth years, Severus included, took advantage of the weather to study for the Transfiguration OWL the next afternoon, or to simply spend time out of the castle.
However, Avery and Mulciber did not like spending time outside, and persisted that Severus come with them down to the dungeons. It took two very powerful, and also illegal, curses to convince the husky and slight boys that Severus had something else to attend to, and that they best be running off. For good measure, Severus also told them that they'd best keep the Dark Magic to themselves, and not use it on anyone else for the time being.
And so, because modifying the mind of two particularly clever wizards takes some time, when Severus arrived to the courtyard, there was not enough room for him to sit by himself. With two books in hand, he chose to sit at a bench in the outdoor corridor: of course, the only free bench was particularly obstructed by a statue of a particularly noble looking wizard.
Not that Severus minded being blocked from view: he needed time to himself to think and to study. Ten minutes later, though, he had grown weary of sitting alone, and thought of going back to the Slytherin Common Room.
As soon as he closed his Transfiguration book, two Gryffindor girls walked by his bench, and sat somewhere nearby: not so close that Severus could see them, but close enough so that he could hear them. To Severus' delight, one of the girls was Lily Evans.
Severus listened as the two discussed classes, then other girls, and finally music. It was getting rather boring for him until James Potter showed up, surprisingly on his own. His hands were tucked in his pockets, and he slouched a bit, obviously still upset and thrown off by Severus' uncharacteristic outburst several hours before.
"Evans,' he said, his voice deeper and more mature than normal. 'Can I talk to you alone?"
"No, you cannot.' Lily replied as if she were talking to her worst enemy. ' Anything you say to me, you can say in front of Mary."
"Fine.' said James, obviously upset with this arrangement. 'I just want to tell you that I accept your apology for standing up for Snivellus this afternoon. So listen, my parents have a cabin up in France, and I'd like to take you-"
"WHAT!' Lily shouted. She must have stood up, because James had taken a step back, and Severus could see his elbow from behind the statue. 'I will never apologize to you, especially when it comes to Severus! He is kind to me, and he respects me, two things that you'll never be able to do yourself. And don't even think about asking me out, James Potter, because I will never, ever, accept!"
For several moments, both James and Severus held their breath. The latter was feeling quite joyful, especially because it seemed like Lily hated James more than she had before, and that she respected Severus as much as he respected her. Well, perhaps not as much, but still, quite a lot.
James, however, could not believe what Lily was saying. Did she truly think Severus Snape was a better person than himself?
In a desperate attempt to impress Lily, James shouted out the one thing that he thought would disgust Lily.
"He fancies you! Severus Snape fancies you, Evans!"
Severus blushed from his listening post, though he was quite sallow and he was never much of a blusher in the first place, so he felt more embarrassed than anything. He held his breath once more, waiting on how Lily would react? Would she believe James? And would she find it so utterly disgusting that she'd end up going out with James, anyways?
"So what if he does?' asked Lily. James was so shocked that his mouth fell open. 'I'd marry Severus before ever thinking twice about you, James."
James attempted to answer in his normal witty manner, but no words could come out. So he stood, huffing and puffing and muttering gibberish, for several moments.
"Go away, Potter.' said Lily. 'Go find your friends, and find some other poor girl to hit on, because I'm done with you."
Severus, on his side of the statue, felt as if he had fell asleep and started dreaming. Lily Evans didn't think he was repulsive! To check, he pinched himself: yes, he was a awake, and yes, he had popped an nerve. But that didn't matter. He came out from behind the statue, put his hands on his hips, and said, while trying to stay on top of his wobbling legs:
"Hey, Potter! The lady said 'Go away'!"
A/N: Chapter Five! I know that there've been several out-of-character moments up to this point, as I guess you've probably noticed, so please take those in stride. That last line there, is my reference to A Very Potter Musical. Three chapters in 24 hours, I think I'm going to take a break now. But I'll be back with Chapter 6 before the weekend starts!