And I would be the one (to hold you down) | Yandere Lily Evans

No (Part II)

One good thing about Lily being head girl is the constant meetings she goes to, whether they be academic or social related (Professor Slughorn loves his networking parties). It's good because Lily deserves these things, and it's good because it gives Natsumi time to breathe. Be alone. Free from her.

Free to find Severus and speak to him.
He's in the potions classroom, having gotten permission from the aforementioned professor to use it as a practice room for NEWTs. When Natsumi finds him, he is reading a small book waiting for a potion to come to a slow boil. And, when she discloses why she's here, he does not react as she thought he would.

"I warned you, didn't I?" Severus' scolding stings like hot coal. Or cold steel. "I see it's too late, then."

"What?" No... No it's not too late. It couldn't be. Severus is just harsh, he's always been that way. Rough around the edges, all edge, really. A little mean and a little rude but--

"I've known Lily far longer than you have." He says it like a badge of honor, and no doubt he believes it to be. "I have seen her pick up and drop off various little...hobbies." The slight is not missed, and Natsumi wonders if perhaps Severus wishes he could be in her place right now. Despite everything. His warnings, his precautions, his...

"I'm not a hobby." Natsumi's defensiveness is well earned, she thinks. When has he... When has Severus ever been a friend to her? Really?

"Fair." Severus concedes, "You're an obsession."

She likes that even less. 

"When Lily attaches herself to an obsession," he starts again, "an idea, a film, a silly little music group..." he waits.

"--She collects things." Natsumi finishes, looking back at all the memories of trinkets, souvenirs, and paraphernalia. "She, um, she surrounds herself with it."

He nods once, "Her absurd idea on adopting a unicorn. Her love of French films. That abysmal little boy band with idiotic haircuts... But there's a degree of separation there. Unicorns don't generally approach any one, France is miles away, and those musical groups are famous. She could never meet them in reality."

Natsumi blinks, having forgotten the unicorn incident. They had been only children at the time, after all. Barely twelve! That feels ages ago. Different planes of reality ago.

"Lily doesn't stick to those interests very long." Severus continues, not waiting for her to respond. "She collects artifacts, treasures, memorabilia...Saturates her life as much as she can with these things before putting them down and moving on. She might still enjoy the thing in question, but it is no longer the focus."

That... makes sense, she supposes. 

"But can she surround herself with you?"

"...What?"

His annoyance isn't as sharp as it usually is when she asks him to repeat himself, "Can she collect pieces of you?"

"I--" Natsumi swallows, suddenly self-conscious, "She has photos of us, of me... We, um," she blushes, "...We actually exchanged locks of our hair in fifth year." That one was actually Natsumi's idea. A historical recreation and a way to show their devotion to each other as friends.

"But why bother with those when she has the real thing?"

There it is again, referring to her as a thing. Natsumi doesn't like it. Doesn't sit well with her. Severus... His whole theory is...

"So you're... You're saying that if I cut myself off from her, for a time, that she'll... She'll stop?"

"Well if you had nipped her little obsession in the bud right when I told you to, then maybe." He tsks, "As I said: it's too late now, isn't it?"