Author's Note: Thank you to Snapeslittleblackbuttons for her speedy beta job on this! Go check out her stories! Go! But read this first.

Chapter 14: The Snitch

Lily righted herself and started toward the door, Sev following behind her.

Maybe we could use those mirrors.

Oh, honestly. Sev could be a right little perv when it suited him, Lily was beginning to learn.

Not that she was so innocent herself. Her knickers, slick with her arousal, attested to that fact. God, his hands, his mouth — they had been everywhere. And it had felt so, so unbelievably good. So much better than when she played with her own nipples. But it had made her throb so badly between her thighs that she just couldn't take it anymore. Even now, with every step that she took, her folds rubbed together, the delicious friction bringing her to the brink. It was agonizing, and she had no idea how she was going to make it back to Gryffindor tower without having an orgasm on the way there. Could you even have an orgasm simply from walking? Well, she was sure going to find out.

She had just made it down the boys' dormitory stairs and taken her first few steps into the Slytherin common room when she caught sight of something that made her come to a sudden stop.

It was McGonagall. In the Slytherin common room. Arms crossed. Lips practically invisible, they were so thin.

Her heart skipped a beat in her chest. Oh God, this was a nightmare.

"Miss Evans," she began in a tone that could frost over a tin of anti-freeze, "what, precisely, are you doing in the Slytherin boys' dormitories?"

Lily's mind went completely blank. "I — Uhhhh…" she supplied unhelpfully.

"Indeed, Miss Evans."

If Lily had thought things couldn't get any worse, she realized she was sadly mistaken when she heard footsteps behind her and noticed McGonagall's eyes drift upward. Her own eyes slid shut as her heart thawed then dropped in her chest, settling somewhere in the region of her appendix. That was Sev, coming up behind her. As if being caught alone in the Slytherin boys' dorms wasn't bad enough…

McGonagall, for her part, did not look best pleased by this latest development. "Ah, Mr. Snape. How kind of you to join us. Perhaps you can enlighten us as to Miss Evans's presence in the — might I remind you — Slytherin boys' dormitories."

"Uhhhh…" came Sev's panicked voice from somewhere behind her. She was too afraid to turn around — too afraid to move, even — to see him.

"Yes, that was Miss Evans's illuminating explanation. I had hoped that you might be able to offer a more articulate one."

At that moment, the door to the Slytherin common room, which was really just a nondescript expanse of dungeon wall, slid open, and they were saved from having to answer any further. In waddled the corpulent form of Horace Slughorn, his great walrus moustache and round belly preceding him into the room.

"Minerva, there you are, what is all this about Miss Evans and the Slytherin common — oh! Hello, there, Miss Evans, Mr. Snape," he greeted jovially. "Come by for a quick visit, eh?"

"A visit?" said McGonagall tetchily. "I would hardly call what is going on here something so innocuous as a visit. Miss Evans, Mr. Snape, each of you: 50 points off and one week's worth of detention starting Monday."

Lily calculated quickly in her head. Her birthday fell on the last Friday of January this year, which was the coming Friday. And that meant…

"One week! But — but that means I'll have detention on my birthday! I can't have detention on my birthday," she insisted.

McGonagall raised her brows. "Oh I assure you, Miss Evans, you can. And you will."

Lily stamped her foot. "But! But that's unfair!"

"Perhaps, Miss Evans," intoned McGonagall, a frown bracketing her mouth, "you should have thought of that before you decided that that the school rules did not apply to you."

Lily felt her lip begin to quiver and her eyes started to water. Sev always did something nice for her birthday, and she was so looking forward to it this year, what with them being a couple and everything….

Slughorn looked almost as gutted as Lily felt. "Oh, come now, Minerva. Surely you can make an exception for Miss Evans just this once."

"I will do no such thing —"

"Professor," Sev piped up from behind her, "this whole thing was my idea…punish me, but please don't punish Lily. It was all my fault."

Lily's heart leaped in hope at Sev's words.

"That is not the story I was told," said McGonagall, peering at her sternly from over her spectacles. "While I appreciate your noble intentions, Mr. Snape, you in fact do Miss Evans, here, a great disservice in your continual efforts to shield her from the consequences of her own actions."

"Now, Minerva —" began Slughorn, his pudgy hands coming up in an appeasing gesture.

McGonagall turned her head, pinning him in place with a gimlet eye. "You as well, Professor." Suitably chastised, Slughorn's hands fell to his side, and he peered down at his shoes. Or rather, he would have, if his great big belly hadn't been in the way.

The tiny speck of hope that had taken root when Sev spoke up sputtered and died, to be replaced with a hot rush of anger. What a horrendous witch McGonagall was. She was probably just bitter that nobody ever did anything nice for her birthday, the shriveled old maid.

"Now then," said McGonagall briskly. "I'll walk you back to Gryffindor tower, Miss Evans."

Lily opened her mouth to object, but fell silent as McGonagall's lips started their famous thinning act. She fell in step behind her professor, waiting until the old prune's back was turned before whipping around quickly to mouth "mirror" at Sev before she stepped through the door and out into the hall. Just before the dungeon wall rematerialized behind her, she caught Sev's discreet nod, and she knew that he had got her meaning.

Lily trudged back to Gryffindor tower with McGonagall in seething silence. When they reached the portrait hole, McGonagall turned to her with a solemn expression.

"I am — disappointed in your behaviour today, Miss Evans," she said in a tone of voice that made Lily's gut twist uncomfortably, even though she was still angry with her head of house. "By rights, I shouldn't be telling you this, but I had very much hoped to see you as a prefect next year. Needless to say, that won't come to fruition unless you get your priorities in order."

"Yes, professor," Lily mumbled at the stonework beneath her feet, unable to look her head of house in the face. McGonagall wanted her as prefect? Well, had wanted her. She had probably ruined her chances with her little stunt today.

"Go on up, then, Miss Evans," McGonagall continued in a softer tone. Might as well enjoy the rest of your weekend, as you'll be serving detention with Mr. Filch come Monday."

When Lily looked up, McGonagall was gone.

She heard a clucking noise from behind her, and realized that it was coming from the Fat Lady. "And what have you been up to, young lady?"

Lily rolled her eyes and clambered through the portrait hole without dignifying her with a response. She just caught the end of the Fat Lady's diatribe — such rudeness from these fourth years today! — before the portrait slammed shut behind her.

She made her way morosely up the stairs and over to her bed, pulling her pocket mirror out of her trunk on the way. She threw herself backward on the bed with a deep sigh, then rolled over onto her side, flicking open the mirror to Sev's anxious face. He had been waiting for her.

"Lily! Are you alright? I'm so sorry about what happened —"

"It's alright Sev, it's not your fault. I'm just upset that we don't get to spend my birthday together," she said glumly.

"We'll celebrate it the next night instead, then. How's that?"

Lily managed a weak smile for Sev's sake. He was trying so hard to cheer her up. He had tried to take the blame for her, and it really hadn't been his fault in the first place. It had been as much her — wait a minute! It hadn't been Sev's fault. But whose was it, then?

Severus seemed to be having a similar train of thought. "What I want to know," he said slowly, "is how McGonagall knew where to find us. We were so careful not to be seen —"

It all clicked into place in Lily's head suddenly, and she was overcome with a rush of anger. "Well, someone told McGonagall."

"You think?" asked Severus.

"I'm sure of it. Remember, she said, 'That's not the story I was told.' Someone snitched on us."

"But who?" asked Severus, scratching his head in bafflement.

Oh, honestly, was he going to make her spell it out for him? "Isn't it obvious," she snapped. "It was your friend, Evan Rosier. I told you you shouldn't have told him anything."

Sev's jaw dropped open. "Evan? No. No way. He wouldn't rat on me," said Sev, shaking his head. "He was the one helping us out!"

"Exactly. He was the only one who knew."

"Why would he rat on us?" asked Severus. She could she him clench and unclench his fist.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because he doesn't like me?"

"That's — that's not true!"

Lily just fixed him a pointed stare that made him look away, his flushed cheeks giving him away.

But he still wasn't willing to accept the obvious. "So, you didn't tell anyone? Not a single person?" he asked dubiously.

"No! Who would I tell, anyway? Nobody knows about us."

Severus raised a sharp eyebrow. "Nobody?" Damn it. Did he know that Mary knew? He must. He must have read it in her mind that day in Hogsmeade.

Lily swallowed over the lump in her throat. "No. Nobody. I didn't tell anybody, Sev," she said. It was a lie. But, still, Mary couldn't be the snitch — Lily hadn't told her that she was meeting up with Sev today. Mary would've just given her grief about it, anyway. No, it had to be Rosier — nobody else had been in a position to tell.

Severus held her gaze for a long moment, and Lily was grateful that legilimency wasn't possible through mirrors. "Alright, then," he finally sighed, running a hand through his hair, and Lily felt herself relax. "But, I still don't think Evan said anything. He wouldn't."

Lily wondered if he was trying to convince her or himself. She did feel for Sev, really. To find out your friend had pretended to help you, only to rat on you behind your back. That was rough. And for it to be Rosier of all people...Rosier, who Sev had been growing even closer to as of late. Lily fancied herself a perceptive person. She knew how important it had become recently for Sev to feel like he had friends other than her. Male friends. Lily was his best friend, but Rosier had become his best mate.

But as much as she wanted to spare Sev's feelings, she knew that in the long run, it was better for the truth to come out now. Sev needed to know that his so called best mate was a two faced liar and a rat. He needed to know so that he wouldn't trust Rosier with anything else in the future.

"I really hope, for your sake, that you're right, Sev…"

Sev still looked troubled by the time she bid him goodbye and closed her mirror up.

The next morning, Lily was cornered by a frantic looking Potter as she made her way through to the Common Room on her way to breakfast.

"Evans! Lily! Are you okay?" he asked, face twisted in worry. It was an odd expression to see on him. He reached his hands out toward her, but thankfully seemed to think better of it, taking a step back from her.

"Uh…yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" asked Lily, bemused. Potter sure was acting odd. Even for him.

"Where the hell have you been? I didn't see you all day yesterday. I came looking for you after the match."

"Oh. I — I was in my room." She had been in such a poor mood after McGonagall's parting words, that she hadn't even bothered to emerge for meals.

Potter ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it. But this time, the gesture had an air of anxiety about it, rather than an air of arrogance. "All day? Did…did something happen to upset you yesterday?"

"You could say that," she muttered darkly.

His expression turned grim. "What did that slimy git do? Just tell me, Lily, and I'll go find him and hex the stuffing out of him right away."

Lily found herself utterly lost in this conversation, and was quickly getting fed up. "What the hell are you going on about Potter?"

"Snape! I knew the creep was going to try something yesterday…that's why I was so worried that he had you all alone in his room. Just tell me what he did, Lily, it's okay," he said soothingly.

"What the hell are you talking about? Sev didn't do anything," she said, bristling with indignation of Sev's behalf.

Now it was Potter's turn to look confused. "Then why are you so upset?"

"I got detention," she said. Why else would she be upset? "Wait. Hang on. How did you know I was with Sev yesterday?"

"What?" asked Potter, suddenly looking nervous. That was the look of a Potter who was hiding something.

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Hang on, were you the prick who snitched on us?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Evans," he said unconvincingly. He really was a crap liar.

"Oh my God, it was you! You told McGonagall, didn't you!" she yelled in outrage. A group of first years in the corner stopped chattering among themselves and looked up at the commotion.

"It's not like that, Evans. I — I was only worried about you —"

But Lily was incensed. "I have detention on my birthday because of you, asshole!"

For what it was worth, he appeared genuinely surprised. "Detention? Why do you have detention? If anyone should have detention it should be Snape!"

"Oh, he does too. We both do. A whole week's worth. Thanks to you," she emphasized her point by poking him in the chest with her index finger.

"But you didn't do anything wrong!" he exclaimed, throwing up his hands.

She continued to advance on him. "How do you figure that? You know I snuck into Slytherin House with Sev yesterday. After all, you're the one who told on us."

"You snuck — hang on, what were you doing with the slimy git all alone in the Slytherin boys dorms, anyway?" he asked, a note of suspicion colouring his voice.

Lily blanched and quickly said the first thing that came to mind. "Homework!"

"Homework? In the Slytherin boys dorms? Why didn't you just go to the library?"

"Be…cause I wanted an excuse to see the Slytherin Common Room," she improvised. "Not that it's any of your business, Potter!"

"You wanted to see the Slytherin Common Room?" asked Potter disbelievingly.

"Yeah. Wouldn't you?" He looked like he was about to argue, but realized that he couldn't on that point. "What I want to know, Potter, is how you knew that I snuck into Slytherin in the first place. Are you stalking me again?"

His eyes widened behind his glasses. "What? No! Of course not!"

Lily narrowed her own eyes in turn. "Then how did you know where I was?"

"I — I — I guessed," he stammered.

"You…guessed?" Lily repeated dubiously.

"Yeah. I, uh, noticed that neither you or Snape were at the match, and I figured you were off somewhere together, and I, uh, reckoned maybe he took you back to his room."

She raised a sceptical brow. "You reckoned?"

"I reckoned," he said firmly.

Lily stared at him intently, her eyes boring holes in his. Oh, how she wished she could be a legilimens for a day. "There's something fishy about you Potter," she finally said. "You seem to alway know exactly where I am and who I'm with. I don't know how you know. But I promise you, one day, I'm going to find out."

Later that night, as Lily was getting ready for bed, she heard an odd ringing sound coming from her trunk. What on Earth? It almost sounded like a…telephone. But there weren't any telephones at Hogwarts. Certainly she would have known if she was harbouring one in her trunk.

"What the hell is that racket!" yelled Marlene from the next bed over.

"I — I don't know," said Lily.

"Well, it's coming from your trunk, so can you go shut it the hell up?" Marlene grumbled back.

Lily opened her trunk, shifting things around, looking for the source of the noise. It was coming from…her mirror?! What the hell? Then suddenly it hit her…Sev must have been experimenting with protean charms. He had been complaining lately about how the mirrors were missing a way to call each other. Well, apparently he had found a way to call her mirror. Literally. She felt a smile break out on her face. Sev really could be quite clever with charms when it suited him.

She grabbed the mirror and clambered onto her bed, drawing the hangings for privacy, before casting a Muffliato that encompassed herself and the mirror.

She opened the mirror to Sev's grinning face.

"So it worked!" he exclaimed, eyes lighting up with excitement.

"Yeah. Clever touch making it ring like a telephone. But it's a little loud. Marlene here nearly had a fit."

His grin faded. "Sorry. I'll work on that."

"It's a good idea, though, Sev. I like it."

"Thanks. Listen, Lily…I wanted to talk to you about Evan."

"Sev…"

"No, hear me out, Lily," he said, forestalling her with a raised hand. "I know what you're going to say. You're going to say I'm just defending him because he's my friend. But I'm not. I really looked. Because, believe me, if he ratted on me, I'd want to know, okay? So I didn't hold back when I looked. And I didn't pick up on anything remotely suspicious. I really, really don't think it was him. Truly."

"Okay, Sev. I believe you," she said quickly.

"Really?"

She sighed. "Yeah. If you say you looked and you didn't find anything, then I trust you."

"Thanks, Lils, you're the best," he said, his face splitting into a relieved grin that made Lily's stomach twist with guilt. She knew she should tell Sev that Potter had been the one to snitch on them. But just as she had been about to do so, something had stopped her short.

No, Lily rationalized. It really was for the best not to say anything. Sev was liable to fly off the handle wherever Potter was concerned. If Sev knew Potter had been the snitch…well, he was bound to lose all sense of proportion and retaliate. And the last thing she wanted to do was to contribute to the animosity between the two boys. Besides, James had only told McGonagall because he was worried about her. As unfounded as his concerns had been, he had had good intentions. James didn't know that she was dating Sev, so of course he would have jumped to the worst possible conclusions and assumed that Sev was taking advantage of her. Really, he was only looking out for her safety. And Sev would never see it that way.

So it was better for everyone if she just kept James's involvement in this to herself. The truth would only cause trouble.

But in the meantime, she wasn't going to let James off the hook so easily. He had gotten awfully nervous when she had questioned how he had known that she was in the Slytherin common room. He was hiding something from her, and she was determined to know what.

Author's Note: Please review! It lets me know that people are still interested and reading this story! It's sort of depressing to see Honeytrap receiving more attention than Pennines. :/