The next afternoon, Lily walks out of potions ready to spend her free period in the library.
On the way, she runs into Severus Snape.
He takes sight of her and helplessly runs after Lily. Lily walks faster.
"Lily, wait!" He called out desperately.
Lily just walked faster.
"Lily!"
She came to a stop and turned. "What do you want, Snape?"
"To apologize!"
"For what? Calling me a mudblood? Why did you do that, Snape, anyway?"
"I - I had to prove myself!"
"To who Snape, to who? As I said two years ago, I'm done making excuses for you. Leave." She dismissed him with a flick of her hand, and kept walking, faster than before. While Snape just stood there.
Little to his knowledge, as soon as she was out of eyeshot, she broke into a run. She found an abandoned classroom on the third floor and locked herself in it.
Then small tears hotly streamed down her cheeks, turning into jarring sobs that racked her whole body.
A monster inside her strained to claw Snape, to kill him and get it over with.
But she couldn't, so she just sobbed.
***
James ran into Marlene maybe half an hour later.
"Oi, McKinnon, Is Lily with ya?" James asked.
"What?! She isn't with you?"
"Why would she be with me?"
They shared a look. A look of fear, of worry.
"Come with me. I know how to find her." Marlene followed James blindly to his dorm. He quickly took out the Marauders map and mumbled in haste, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." The map came to life.
"Why are there dots and why are they moving, James? And why are they labeled?"
"Not important right now." He answered, while his eyes darted rapidly around the big map.
"Ah, there she is! Third floor! I'll see to it." James felt relived she was there.
"Mischief Managed."
He left to go see Lily.