Autumn Leaves- marylily

Friends

I've definitely shifted the timeline around a bit, so don't get confused when certain people pop up!! The next chapter will be a little flashback thing (of something mentioned in this chapter, it'll make sense once they're both released.) because I want to see how I feel about writing that kind of thing?? So if you don't get all the info in this chapter, you will in the next :) Also I'm sorry for the slow updates guys, I'm trying my absolute hardest but I'm kind of depressed atm and I've been massively lacking motivation, so please bear with me<3

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"Lils, Lils wake up." Alice gently shook Lily awake. 

The redhead woke up in a confused daze, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she sat up slowly, letting out a confused little hum.

"You've slept in, love. I know that you don't like waking up late."

"Oh, thank you Alice."

"Of course, lunch is soon. I'm meeting Amelia, so I'll see you later, yeah?"

"Yep, see you later." Lily gave the girl a sleepy smile.

Alice left the room, leaving Lily to her own devices. She let out a quiet sigh, pushing her bangs out of her face, the rest of her hair tied in a particularly messy ponytail. Running her hands down her face, she groaned, contemplating going back to sleep.

She forced herself up and out of bed, pulling on some fluffy socks in anticipation of the chilly stone floor. She tiredly plodded to her bathroom, coming to a standstill in front of the mirror. Taking in her appearance, she reached up and let her ponytail down, her auburn hair now sticking up in an odd, tangled position. 

"Bloody hell." She murmured, her expression bored as she began forcing a brush through the knots.

She got dressed, throwing on a cardigan last minute, and set off towards the great hall. The autumnal air bit at her once she left the warmth of the common room, and she quickly realized that she should've layered up a bit better. Lily pulled the cardigan tighter around her body, shivering and picking up her pace.

Once she reached the great hall, she sat down silently and began eating, daydreaming to pass the time.

Sometime during her meal, the owls flew into the hall, delivering everyone's mail. Lily, of course, received none. Her family only wrote her whenever they deemed necessary. That was only her parents though, her sister never wrote her when she was at school. Even when she was back home, they never really spoke, unless they were arguing. 

The girls used to be close, although there had always been some underlying jealousy on Petunias end, but it all went downhill once Lily had gotten her Hogwarts letter. In Petunias eyes, it was just another thing Lily had that she didn't. Lilys parents were proud at first, but that pride quickly faded once they realized that her being away meant that it was harder for them to shape her into the 'perfect young lady' they wanted her to be.

Once Lily was nearly done eating, she was pulled out of her daydreams, feeling eyes on the back of her neck, she furrowed her eyebrows, spinning around to see. Her eyes scanned over the Slytherin table, and there sat Severus Snape, staring at her with an unnerving gaze, quickly averting his eyes once he noticed that he'd been caught, but then going right back to staring once her back was turned again.

Lily and Severus' relationship had gotten increasingly more complicated as of late, with some decidedly odd interactions, and Lily wasn't in no mood to deal with him, so she quickly tucked her book into her satchel and began quickly walking out of the hall. 

Severus was quick to follow, darting up and into the corridor after her.

"Lily! Lily wait for me!" He called out after her. The shouting had peaked the interest of some groups scattered down the hallway and out in the courtyard next to them, one group being Mary Macdonald and her friends.