Tarnished
Lily Evans was happy.
Lily Evans had it all... until her best friend called her the unthinkable, washing her confidence down the drain.
She spent more time alone in her studies nowadays than she did with her friends.
In her eyes, Lily Evans was... tarnished. Damaged, broken.
***
Lily Evans was tarnished.
Lily Evans had lost so much... until she received a letter towards the end of her fifth year,
Evans,
I know you think I'm a git and I know I'm not worth your time. But you need to get your act together. I know your opinion of me, that I'm just chasing you for the fun of it.
But I KNOW you, Lily Evans. I know the fire in you. I know your kindness (even if it's not directed towards me). I know that you are worth TEN of every pure blood Slytherin that was ever sorted.
Snape was WRONG.
Yours truly,
The Arrogant Toe-rag
Lily Evans was wrong.
I think Lily was more broken after Snape's insult than we know. I mean, the guy was her closest friend for about four years and he treated her with the utmost disdain in that one comment. So I think she went through a period or two of insecurity.