A/N: There is strong reference to child abuse in this chapter. Please don't read if this will upset you.

...

If Lily had thought Hogwarts was spectacular before, it was nothing compared to how it was at Christmas.

The whole castle was bursting with festive cheer. There were little dwarfs in Santa hats who sang carols in the great hall at mealtimes, fake snow, icicle-laden Christmas trees and little gold bells which jangled and danced in the air as the students made their way to class.

Even Professor McGonagall's mood appeared to be matching the season as she let them play games in their last transfiguration class of term and didn't even set them any holiday homework!

"Don't get used to it." She warned them. "Things will pick up next term, but I think you've all earned a bit of a break for now." And she gave them all a rare smile.

The Hogwarts Express pulled into platform nine and three quarters and Lily, disembarking as quickly as she could, ran over to her parents. Throwing her arms around them both, she felt she couldn't possibly ever let go. "Mum! Dad!" She cried and surprised herself by breaking down in tears. "I've missed you so much."

Her parents hugged her back. "Not nearly as much as we've missed you, pet." Her dad said, making her smile with his familiar northern accent.

"I told Eileen we'd take Severus home with us, Lils." Lily's mum said as they finally broke apart. "She's feeling a bit under the weather." She added sadly. "Is he here?"

Lily looked over her shoulder to where Severus was standing a few feet away, scanning the platform, entirely alone.

"Sev!" She cried, waving him over. "You're coming with us!"

Sev made his slow way over to the Evans.

"No Petunia?" Lily said, and though happy to have gained a friend for the journey home, was still sad not to see her sister at the platform.

Lily's dad shook his head sadly. "No." He said. "She had… homework to do."

Lily felt all the happiness and excitement of a moment ago disappear like an extinguished flame. Petunia couldn't have homework that was so urgent she couldn't take an afternoon off. It was only the start of the holidays after all.

But she nodded sadly and, with Sev, followed her parents to where they'd parked the car.

When they arrived at Sev's little house in Spinner's End and Lily's dad got out of the car to help him with his trunk, Lily felt a strong urge to stop her friend leaving.

She knew what Sev's home life was like. His dad was horrible and his mum was so often lost in her own world it was like she wasn't there at all.

She wished she could ask her parents to adopt him and then he could move in with them. But Sev had parents. Just not good enough ones.

"Bye, Severus." Lily's mum smiled at him. "I hope we'll see you round ours soon. You know you're welcome any time."

Sev didn't thank her. He looked at Lily, still sitting in the back, gave her a small, sad wave, and then walked up the front path to his house alone.

Once back in their house, Lily's mum put on the kettle and the family gathered round the kitchen table to hear all about Lily's first term.

"Well Christ on a bike!" Lily's dad exclaimed as her mother stared at her in amazement. "The staircases move?!"

Petunia had joined them for the conversation and though she didn't say anything unkind or dismissive, she didn't really say anything else either.

That night, as the girls went up to bed, Lily cornered her on the landing. "You can't avoid me forever, Tuney." She said, taking hold of the girl's wrist as she made her way to her bedroom. "Let's talk, please."

She hadn't heard from her sister all term, but now Lily was home she'd have to talk to her, wouldn't she?

Petunia turned back to her sister. She appeared to be considering her. And Lily thought she saw something like recognition on the blonde girl's thin face. And then, to her immense relief, she smiled.

"I must admit it will be nice having someone to talk to about my new boyfriend." She said, her smile broader now. "You know what mum and dad are like. They think I should be concentrating on my studies, but Graham Barnard asked me out at the Christmas party and I couldn't say no." She grinned. "Wait 'til you see a picture…"

It was as though the last four months had never happened. It was wonderful, magical beyond anything she'd encountered at Hogwarts, that Petunia was finally talking to her again.

Lily was, for the first time in nearly a year, invited into Petunia's pink bedroom and the girls sat, as they had done for so many years before, together on her bed, talking well into the night.

Tuney didn't ask Lily about her school. It seemed the best way she could manage it was to simply not talk or perhaps not think about it. And that was fine by Lily. She'd take being back on speaking terms with her sister over sharing tales from Hogwarts any day.

Her good mood lasted for the rest of the week. It wasn't even dampened by the impossibly difficult history of magic essay she had to complete, which, she realised irritably, could have been a lot more interesting if the ghost teacher hadn't been so dreadfully dull.

She saw Sev every day. She missed him more than ever when they were apart, having got used to having him so nearby at Hogwarts. But then one day something quite horrible happened.

Sev and Lily usually met in the park they'd first met in as younger children. Though they didn't play on the swings or monkey bars anymore, they would still sit on the grass or bench together, eating sweets and talking.

But today, wrapped up warm against the winter chill, Lily was surprised not to see Sev there waiting for her. Sev always arrived first. He'd be there on the bench, smiling quietly up as if he had all the time in the world for her.

Though it was odd, she sat down and waited anyway. Perhaps he was just running late.

But time passed and still there was no sign of him. And then, after half an hour, she got to her feet. She knew what she had to do.

She didn't like going to the Snapes' house if she could help it. Though Sev's mum had always been kind to her, if a little forgetful at times, Sev's dad was a different matter entirely.

She'd never met anyone as mean as Mr Snape before. He was an enormous man with dark hair and eyes like Sev, but he had nothing of her friend's sensitivity.

Trembling slightly and hoping beyond hope he wouldn't be home, Lily rang the doorbell to their house. She had to know that Sev was alright. If he wasn't able to see her that was fine, but she wouldn't leave without checking in on him first.

There was the sound of footsteps and an outline becoming clearer through the frosted glass as a figure approached the door.

It opened to reveal exactly who Lily had been dreading seeing. Tobias Snape.

"What do you want?!" He snapped, glaring at Lily.

Lily gulped. She knew it wasn't right that this man spoke to her like this, but he was still an adult and she had to do her best to be polite back. "Sorry to bother you, Mr Snape, but is Severus home?"

Mr Snape puffed himself up, making him taller and meaner looking, and less like Sev than ever. He glared down his nose at her. "If he is, what's it to you?"

Lily flushed. "Well, I was hoping to meet him at the park." She stammered. "He said he'd be there by noon and it's not like him to be late..."

Mr Snape snorted. "Well he shouldn't have gone talking back to me this morning then, should he?!"

Lily felt her stomach sink. Oh no. Sev had got in trouble again. He usually did his best to avoid his dad and was very good at not talking back. She knew Mr Snape was touchy about many things and especially when he drank he was cruel and sometimes violent. She supposed it was only inevitable that her friend had inadvertently done something to anger him. He certainly wasn't difficult to enrage.

"Can I see him?" Lily said tremulously, despite her whole body telling her to run.

Mr Snape snorted then pulled the door open so it banged against the wall and stalked back into the house, pulling a cigarette packet from the back pocket of his jeans.

Lily watched him go and then entered the house, which already smelt strongly of cigarettes, closing the door carefully behind her.

She took off her shoes and walked up the stairs to Sev's bedroom. She didn't see his mother, but the door to his parents' bedroom was closed and Lily wondered if perhaps she was in there.

She knocked tentatively on Sev's door. "Sev?" She said quietly, her heart sinking again as she heard quickly stifled sobs from within.

"Come in." Came Sev's thick voice.

She opened the door and entered the little room.

"Hi." She said, coming to sit on the carpet by her friend.

"Hi." Sev replied.

He had definitely been crying. His eyes were red and there were tear stains on his cheeks.

"What happened?" Lily said, though she really really didn't want to know the answer.

"Dad again." Sev said, looking away. "He… you know… because I… well, because I told him to shut up."

And, in spite of his pain, humiliation and helplessness, he smiled a little.

Lily wished she could have smiled too. Of course Sev had every right to tell that beast to shut up. He was horrible to him. But she didn't. Because she knew what the man must have done.

"Was it bad?" She whispered.

Sev's pale cheeks flushed. He nodded. "Yeah."

Lily felt a hot surge of anger towards the violent brute that was Tobias Snape. She knew it wasn't exactly uncommon for parents to hit their kids. Her own parents had smacked her and Petunia when they were younger, and she bore them no ill will for that. But this was different. This was much, much worse.

She'd seen the vicious marks on her friend's back before. They had horrified her. She couldn't understand how anyone could be cruel enough to hurt their own son like that.

But though Sev made her promise to tell no one, she had loved that he'd trusted her enough to tell her. He's not been too ashamed to hide.

She looked at him now, knees tucked up to his chest and an expression of such deep hurt it was all Lily could do not to throw her arms around him.

She didn't though. While she and her girl friends frequently hugged, she didn't do that with Sev. Sev was a boy, and girls didn't hug boys unless they loved them.

But she did love Sev, she realised. She loved him as much as she loved anyone else. She moved across the carpet and wrapped her arms around her friend.

She felt a hot tear fall into her hair.

"It's OK." She whispered gently. "I'm here now."

Lily finally left Sev's just before tea time, at which point her stomach was rumbling loudly. She hadn't eaten since breakfast. Sev's mum still hadn't come out of the bedroom and his dad never did any cooking.

She hurried past the front room, from where the loud sound of the television was coming, and where Mr Snape's long legs were just visible behind the door and quickly left the house.

She breathed a guilty sigh of relief as she found herself in the fresh air again and began the long walk home.

Though the Evans weren't exactly rich, their neighbourhood was certainly nicer than Spinner's End.

"Hello, Lily!" Old Mrs Green waved at her from where she'd been putting out the empty milk bottles in her front porch.

"Hello Mrs Green." Lily smiled politely back.

"My, you've grown!" The old lady said. "But I suppose it's been a few months, hasn't it? What school is it you go to again?"

"Er…"

But she was saved answering by a sudden shout from across the street. "Mrs Green, I want a word with you!"

Lily spun round, relieved and yet also apprehensive, as Mr Wilkinson from number seven marched over to them.

"That ruddy cat of yours has been digging up my flower beds again!" The man shouted, his face red and his fists clenched.

"Reginald." Mrs Green said, drawing herself up to her full height, though the curlers and pink dressing gown did detract from her credibility somewhat. "Jasper is a cat. I'm very sorry he doesn't understand property laws but if you'd like to attempt to teach him, he's on the armchair in the front room."

Mr Wilkinson glowered at her. "Well it's the third time I've had to re-plant my bulbs now. And there's a frost coming. If they die…" He shook his head crossly at her.

"I'm very sorry to hear your bulbs have been uprooted, Reg, but I'm afraid I do not have a magic wand." Mrs Green said. "Now I need to go. Coronation Street is on. Goodnight to you. And goodbye, Lily dear." She added before heading back into her house from where the familiar theme tune was indeed issuing.

Lily walked the rest of the way back home, smiling a little to think what the adults' reactions would have been if she'd told them she in fact did have a magic wand. Not that it would have helped much with Mrs Green's cat. Though maybe Professor McGonagall might know something of use.

She entered the kitchen to find her mum had just taken a lasagna out of the oven. "Ah there you are, Lily. I was just about to send Tuney out to look for you. Where were you?"

"At Sev's." She said as her dad entered the room and copied her words.

"You and that Severus." The man said, stroking her hair and kissing her as he passed. "You're inseparable."

"How's he doing?" Her mum asked, frowning slightly as she brought the food to the table.

Lily shrugged. "He's managing. He doesn't like being back home."

Her mother looked sad. "Poor boy." She said, now laying the table. "I heard Tobias got laid off from his job again. I can't imagine that's done much for his temper."

Lily shook her head. Should she tell her parents what the man had done? She longed to tell someone. It felt like such a heavy burden to carry. Surely her parents would know what to do.

"If only we could do something…" Her mother said sadly. "Tell him he's welcome round any time, won't you Lily?"

"Severus, not Tobias." Her dad clarified.

Lily nodded. Sev knew that already. But sometime she wondered if Sev really liked being at her house. He never spoke to her parents and he seemed to actively dislike Petunia. The only people he ever wanted to be around were his mother and Lily.

"I'll tell him." She promised and, mind still full of her friend, sat down with her family for dinner.

"Merry Christmas!" Lily said, turning up at the Snapes' door on December 25th. She was wearing her thick winter coat, wooly hat and gloves and had a present tucked under her arm.

Fortunately, Sev had answered the door. He beamed on seeing Lily and she hugged him. They were hugging one another more and more these days.

"For you." She said, handing him the gift.

"Thanks." Sev said. "I, er…"

"Don't worry." Lily said, waving away what she knew her friend was about to say. He hadn't got one for her. That was fine. "It's the giving that's really the fun part." She smiled.

"I'd invite you in but…" he jerked his head over his shoulder and wrinkled his nose.

"Your dad." Lily completed for him. And then, in a quieter voice, "how is he?"

"Not too bad." Sev said and Lily breathed a sigh of relief. "Mum's been working on the Christmas dinner for days and he seems almost happy for once." He gave a bewildered sort of shake of his head. "First time for everything."

Lily laughed. It was so good to hear Sev joke about his father like this. He seemed to take everything the man did or said so personally. Perhaps this was an indication that her friend was starting to see that none of this was his fault.

"This is for your mum." Lily said, handing him a card too. "Well, I had to write both your parents in there because it's polite." She scrunched up her nose. "But tell your mum it's really for her."

Sev smiled and took it. "Thanks." He said. "She'll appreciate that."

Lily hoped so. She'd never seen Sev's mum with any friends or family around her. It seemed a terribly lonely existence with nothing but her brute of a husband and underage son for company, and Lily hoped the woman might be able to see there were people outside the family who cared, even if it was only Lily.

"Anyway, I'd better go." Sev said. "It's been a whole ten minutes without him shouting about something. Better not jinx it."

Lily laughed again. "Merry Christmas Sev." And she did something she'd never done before and kissed him on the cheek.

He flushed a little but looked very pleased. "Merry Christmas, Lily." He smiled. And he turned and vanished back into the house.