A depleted core. That had been Madam Pomfrey's prognosis. A depleted core, and Lily had been the one to deplete it. She knew that the contract would give her access to Sev's magic, but she had thought… It was such a Dark spell. Surely, she would have to make a conscious effort to use it. Surely, using such a spell to siphon Sev's magic would have some negative effect on her, if not magically then on her soul. That's what everyone told her. That Dark magic damaged the soul, and if the spell was Dark enough then the soul could even break into pieces. And yet she hadn't felt a thing; she hadn't even realized she was taking his magic. Her body had done it automatically, as unthinkingly as breathing. And Sev knew. He told her to use everything she had, knowing how it would affect him.

Lily sat next to the infirmary bed, watching Sev breathe. He hadn't woken up yet. Lily tried to reassure herself, reminding herself over and over that Pomfrey had promised her he would get better, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the rise and fall of his chest beneath the white sheet. He was going to be okay, he just needed rest, his core needed to recover, and then – after Lily hugged him and kissed him – she was going to give him an earful. The Headmaster stood beside her. She could hear his robes rustle every time he moved, but she refused to look up, refused to take her eyes off of Sev.

"Engaged," the Headmaster said, more to himself than to her, but Lily nodded anyway.

Sev was in such a state that Pomfrey had no choice but to summon the Headmaster. Lily told a much abbreviated version story, leaving out the parts she knew Sev would not want her to tell, neatly skirting around You-Know-Who's involvement. "And how is it that Mr Snape first ended up in such a contract? Contracts like that haven't been used in decades," the Headmaster asked.

"It was originally written for his mother," Lily answered, still looking at Sev.

"And who is his mother?"

"Eileen Snape… Prince. Eileen Prince."

Lily stared at Sev's face, at those long, black lashes pressed against chalk-white skin. She had only met his parents once, by accident, at the store, before Sev had quickly ushered them away. Sev had gotten his father's nose, his angular jaw, his chin, but his mother was there as well– she was in his eyes and his cheekbones and his hair. James Potter was an idiot. How could he think Sev was ugly? How had he managed to convince the whole school, convince Lily that he was ugly? Sev was… different. He didn't look like anybody else. There would never be another Severus Snape. There might be hundreds, thousands of Lily Evanses out there in the world, each with long red hair, a dainty chin, a delicate nose– all the features that people proclaimed were ''pretty" but Lily thought were just common. Lily wished her features were more like Sev's: a little harsher, a little sharper, a little more masculine.

"I remember Eileen," Dumbledore mused from somewhere behind her. "And I remember that barbaric contract her father had drawn up. I encouraged her to flee rather than be made a slave to her husband. I had no idea Mr Snape was her son. I am very sorry to see him reduced to this. If I had known before who his mother was, I might have been able to warn him…" He trailed off, maybe because he realized Lily was not paying much attention, her focus solely on Sev. The Headmaster sighed. "Well, what's done is done. You understand that this can be no flight of fancy for you? That this boy is bound to you?"

"I know, I understand," Lily whispered.

"Then you'll do what needs to be done? You'll marry him once you both turn seventeen?"

When they both turned seventeen. Sev's birthday was January 9, her's on January 30, and it was November now. In two months they would be married.

"And there's no way to break the bond?" Lily asked.

"I'm afraid not, child."

Well, they had their answer. All their research had been for nothing. It could be worse, she thought, looking at Sev. I could have ended up married to Potter. The more Lily thought about it, the more she started to like the idea. If she married Sev, he wouldn't be able to join You-Know-Who. She could keep him safe. They could open an apothecary together just like they always talked about; Lily would run the shop, and Sev would handle most of the brewing. He would like that. He was always more of a homebody; he liked to work behind-the-scenes, he liked to be in the kitchen, in the home, in the library researching, and Lily could go out into the world for him, provide for him. She knew, instinctively, that if she married someone like Potter she wouldn't have that. Potter might be better than some Purebloods Lily had to deal with, but he was still very traditional in many ways. Sev never cared about how he was supposed to act, and he never much cared for how Lily acted either.

"I don't know if we'll make it another two months," Lily confessed. "I'm not that much of a duelist."

"I can arrange for you and Mr Snape to spend the next few months at a small boarding school in London. Miss Minchin's has been operating since 1905, and accepts parlour borders. The curriculum there is not quite as robust as it is here, but you and Mr Snape should not fall too far behind in your studies. We can tell your parents and Mr Snape's that you will be staying here for the holidays."

Oh God, her parents. Her Mum will be so angry when she found out that Lily married that "slovenly Spinner boy." Well, like Dumbledore said, what's done is done. Her Mum will get over it eventually. As for Sev's parents… Lily seriously doubted Sev cared much for their opinion. There was just this nagging feeling, that something wasn't quite right. "Won't you get in trouble?" Lily demanded, finally turning to look at the Headmaster for the first time. "Lying to our parents like that? Taking us out of school?"

"When it comes to the safety of my students, I feel I must do whatever it takes." The Headmaster placed a wrinkled hand on her shoulder with all the gentleness of a kindly grandfather looking to comfort a scared child.

Sev's words came racing back to her. That man has never helped me! Lily tore her gaze away and looked back at Severus. "I'll talk to him. Tell him the plan. I don't want to force him."

"Of course, I will leave you for now. Don't worry, child, there's been no permanent damage. He will be fine."

She heard him leave, his footsteps growing fainter and fainter until they disappeared altogether. A sliver of brown appeared in the chalk-white skin of Sev's face, so dark it looked almost black, as Sev cracked one eye open. "He's gone?" He asked in a hoarse whisper.

All the tension balled up inside of her fled at the sight of him awake. She sagged in her chair, suddenly unable to support her weight. "Yes," she answered, and then narrowed her eyes. "Severus Tobias Snape–"

"Oh, middle name and everything," he said, in a high, mocking voice.

"–You knew I was draining your magic and you said nothing!"

"You won the duel, didn't you?" Sev snapped back, opening both eyes now and flailing around in his struggle to sit up. "Besides, it was almost as if I was contributing."

Sev must have seen the apoplectic expression on her face, because he quickly continued, "You know, I'm starting to think that we're going about this the wrong way. The contract sets the terms of my marriage, the glyphs in the Dueling Ground give the contract it's power, but no one gave a damn about me until they found out my mother is a Prince, not even Dumbledore. The Headmaster had never gone out of his way to help me before, not until you told him who my mother was."

Lily frowned, struggling to come to terms with the Headmaster she had always known and the one Severus knew, the one she had caught a glimpse of tonight. "I'm not saying the Marauders didn't deserve punishment, but maybe Dumbledore just thinks rape and forced marriage is more worthy of his concern than schoolyard bullying?"

"And attempted murder isn't?" Sev snapped.

Lily felt her heard stop. "What? Did James and Black– did they try to kill you? Is that what happened last year? Did–"

"I can't talk about it," he said and Sev – her Sev – looked close to tears. He twisted his head away, hiding behind his hair. "Dumbledore made me vow, made it magically binding." He yanked at the threads in his blanket.

"That's why you never talked about it. I thought you were just being petty. I thought–" Lily narrowed her eyes, thinking back to James's gloating and wondered if there was any truth in the stories he told about the night he saved Sev. "I'm going to kill James Potter."

"I think I deserve that right," Sev said with a slight smile.

"Alright. You can kill him, and I'll hold him down. Teamwork."

"We do make a good team."

Lily scooted her chair closer to Sev's bed. She wanted to reach out and take his hand. That's what you were supposed to do when you proposed marriage, right? And, yes, they were already engaged, but it was kind of forced on them, and she wanted– she wanted to do things right. Do them the way he deserved. But she was too nervous, the inches that lay between their hands seemed as wide as an ocean. Lily swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. "I know you don't trust Dumbledore, but what he suggested was a good idea. We can go somewhere, lay low until we're both seventeen, and then get married. It'll be over."

Severus rolled his eyes and sighed a little. "Lily, stop trying to turn yourself into a martyr. Like you said before, every curse has a counter-curse, no matter what Dumbledore said. We'll find a way to break the bond and you'll be free. No need for marriage. Now, I need you to get as many genealogies and family histories from the library you can find. There must be some reason why everyone is so fascinated with my mother's family…"

Lily listened dully as Severus talked. His clear rejection of her hurt worse than when he called her a mudblood. At least then she had been able to cover her feelings in a cloak of righteous anger, but here and now there was no running from the heartbreak. Sev didn't want her, and that was his choice. She wasn't going to be like Potter, she wouldn't push or resort to blackmail. She just… had to learn to accept it.

Rosier came by the infirmary after morning classes to relieve her of babysitting duty. Lily felt weird, entrusting Sev to Evan Rosier, but he had so far proven himself to be trustworthy. At least, when it came to Sev's welfare. "How is he?" He asked as he took up the chair Lily vacated. Sev was asleep again, but at least he wasn't so pale anymore.

"He can only stay a wake for about a half-hour, hour at the most, and then he's down for the count for several hours. Pomfrey said that's normal, and that he should be completely fine in three days." Lily adjusted the blanket around Sev's shoulders and patted a few wrinkles out of his pillow.

Rosier lowered his body into the chair. The boy – man, really – was built like a tank and was a skilled duelist on top of it. Mulciber and Black wouldn't dare cross the infirmary threshold so long as Rosier was there. "Can I ask you something?" Lily asked, to which Rosier grunted and she decided to interpret that as a 'yes.' "Why stick up for Sev– not that I'm not grateful, mind you, but… he is a half-blood and Mulciber is a Pureblood."

"Not all Purebloods are created equal," Rosier said with a shrug. "Sure, there are generalities. Generally, Purebloods are better than mudbloods, but there are always exceptions to the rule and Mulciber is an exception. Besides, Snape's scrappy and I like that. He's a bit of an exception himself."

Lily looked down at where he sat and wondered if he knew just how close he was to dangerous ground. If Snape was an exception, and if Mulciber was an exception, then who knows how many others were exceptions. Soon, Rosier would have to face the fact that it wasn't Mulciber and Sev were exceptional, they were just people, same as Muggles and Muggleborns. She kind of hoped she would be there when the epiphany hit; she was starting to like Rosier and it would be nice if they could one day be friends.

She waved goodbye after one last look at Sev, and hurried through the halls to the Gryffindor common room. If she was quick, she could get a bath before having to go to Arithmancy, but as she stepped through the portrait she found herself face-to-face with James Potter.

"Why is Regulus Black writing you?" James demanded as soon as he saw her.

"None of your damned business," she said and moved to side-step him, but James quickly jumped in her way again. She glanced around the common room, hoping there was a prefect she could appeal to, but the room was empty save her and James.

"I think it is my business. You don't know what you're getting into. You don't know what this world is like. The Wizarding World is dangerous, especially for Muggleborns like yourself, and you're just putting yourself in worse danger by hanging out with Snivellus again and now Regulus Black?"

Lily had her wand drawn and pressed against the tip of James's nose. "I don't want to hear that name come out of your lips again," she hissed. "And I know perfectly well what kind of place the Wizarding World is. I don't need the likes of you to ride to my rescue. God, somedays I wish I was a Muggle like Tuney."

"Lily, I'm trying to protect you–"

"I don't want your protection!" Lily screamed, pouring out all of her frustration, all of her exhaustion and disappointment that had been building up since she first stepped into Hogwarts and realized it wasn't the perfect, fairy tale castle that Sev had made it sound. Before that even, before learning she was a witch, back when she first realized what it meant to be a girl and knowing that all the things she wanted would be forever out of reach. "Get it through your thick skull, Potter! I don't want your protection! I don't want your love! I don't want to be your perfect princess! I don't want you!"

She whipped her wand away, scratching his nose and grabbed a fistful of her long, red hair. She slashed with her wand, and the wavy locks fell loose. Her head felt so light without the heavy weight of her hair holding her down, like it might go rolling off her shoulders if she wasn't careful. "Here!" She threw the hair at Potter. "Take it! That's what you wanted, right!? My beauty!? Take it! It's yours! Just leave me alone!"

James was too shocked to stop her this time as she shouldered past him to the girl's dormitory. She slammed the door shut to her room, her chest heaving with anger, with euphoria, with a dozen other nameless emotions. She caught sight of herself in the mirror and turned to face her reflection, ready to inspect the damage she had done.

Short hair, no make-up… she didn't look like Lily Evans. Lily Evans with her delicate, pretty features. Lily Evans, so girlish, so dainty. Without the mask, she could see her face for what it was: her lips were a little too thin, her mouth a little too wide. Her lashes were colourless, as were her eyebrows, and without using a pencil to darken them they made her forehead look high. Intellectual, she thought. The sort of forehead an academic might have. She… she looked a little masculine. Different. Unique. She… He liked it.