"THE QUEEN IS BACK!" Marlene sang, stepping down into the common room for the first time since we left for Petunia's party. She still didn't look like a queen as she usually did, but everyone loved Marlene, and that was that. "Why is no one worshipping me at my feet?" She asked. "HELLO? YOUR QUEEN IS BACK!"
This time, everyone put down anything they were doing and started applauding her. I rolled my eyes and joined in.
"Thank you, thank you!" My best friend said, bowing to her fellow Gryffindors. "I'm sure you all missed me so very much. I'll be accepting all gifts, gold, and sacrifices this morning in the great hall. I expect cookies from you, James Potter! Oh- and Martha, maybe a few of those brownies couldn't do too much harm?" She said, pointing to each person she waved.
"So..." Sirius said, making his way over. "I've missed you," He said, awkwardly leaning on the wall. "But I heard you haven't really missed me?" He said.
I sighed. "Why do you care? You only use her as a shag," I pointed out.
Marlene giggled. "Oh, I missed you, Black" She said flirtatiously. "And that perfect hair!"
Sirius winked at me before returning to normal conversation (or as normal as those two get) with Marlene. No doubt they were discussing which broom closet was the best or what classrooms were empty and when.
Suddenly, I felt someone watching me. James Potter. Dammit! I looked around quickly before deciding to see if I could go find Severus in order to get away. "Oi, Marls," I whispered to Marlene "I'm going to go find Sev. I'll be back later." She laughed at something Sirius was saying and nodded. I rolled me eyes at her before crawling out of the portal. Now onto problem #2. If I was Severus Snape, where would I be? I thought back to the last time I had seen him. It was back in the hallway when James and Sev were both being idiots. Nope. Not going back there.
Finally, I decided to search the courtyard. There he was with that gang of his, laughing at some depressing joke or something. Fear filled me. I coudn't go over there if they were with him! No, no I couldn't. Well, I could, but my legs refused to move and I found myself running back into the castle. To... Slughorn's room. Okay.
--
"Lily, what a pleasant surprise!" Professor Slughorn grinned, clapping his hands together as I entered his classroom. "Just getting a bit of grading done. To what do I owe this pleasure?" He forced a warm mug of something into my hands, which I assumed was tea.
"Nothing, really," I muttered. "Actually, that's not true."
Slughorn leaned against his desk. "And why would that be, my dear?"
I sighed. "Many reasons, I suppose. First being my father's dead and I don't know. It just doesn't seem real to me. He's been... well.... alive all of my life. This is a foreign concept to me. I don't seem him enough during the school seasons that I actually am able to feel that he's de- gone. To me, he's still getting up every morning and making coffee and going to work and coming home to my mother and sister and writing to me before he goes to bed. I don't know. I can see his- his body and I know it's dead but the dead man and my father feel like two different people to me," I explained. "And then there's Severus Snape and his friends. They scare me. I can't talk to Sev without seeing them. I almost feel like it was them who killed my father and now they're slowly-" I stopped.
"Go on," Slughorn urged.
"Slowly killing me," I ended. "Sorry, professor, I really shouldn't've gone on like that! I'll be going so you can get back to your work."
"Nonsense, Lily. I'd like to tell you a few things," He said. "What you feel about your father being gone, it's completely normal. You're right. You can't see him hardly enough to notice he's missing now, but this summer, you will feel it. You said he wrote to you every night before bed, are you missing these letters?"
Shrugging, I sipped the drink. Yep. Tea. "He never sent me them. He wrote them down in her journal and then I'd read the journal when I got home for the summer," I said.
Slughorn nodded. "Yes, yes I see. And what you say about Severus Snape, I was not aware that you're close?"
"He grew up in a house near mine. He was the one who taught me about the wizarding world. My parents are- were- muggles. When we were placed in different houses, I didn't know what to do," I explained. "He also is kind of the reason my sister and I don't get along."
"So his friends, the gang of Slytherins?" I nodded. "They frighten me as well, Lily. You don't need to be around anyone who gives you fear."
--
That was it. That was the last straw. I was in Gryffindor, a few greasy teenagers couldn't scare me. I would talk to Severus, if they were there or not. Slughorn was wrong. Fear should charge me and make me more powerful. I couldn't go hiding from something stupid like a feeling.
"Severus!" I shouted across the courtyard.
He didn't hear me. Instead, he continued talking to his friends. I moved in close enough to hear what they were saying. "-get rid of them all," One of them was saying. "Mudbloods aren't real wizards. I bet they steal their magic."
I froze. I was a "mudblood".
"Lily?" Snape asked, noticing me for the first time.
"Never mind," I grumbled. "I wanted to talk to you, but I don't anymore," I said, turning and walking away.
Snape followed me. "Lily, I'm sorry! What Lucius said, he was kidding! Lily!" He called. I stormed into the castle, nearly running to go and hide in the Gyrffindor common room. Where he couldn't get to me. "Lily I swear, it was a joke! Please, just talk to me!"
I turned around to face him with my hands on my hips. Down the hall, I heard the familiar laugh of Sirius Black. Great. When there was Sirius, there was James, and when there was James, there was trouble. "What do you want?" I asked softly. Maybe if I didn't raise my voice, they wouldn't notice it was me. The voices were getting louder as they neared the Gryffindor portrait. The Fat Lady watched what was happening with excitement.
He looked at me with pleading eyes. "They're really okay, I swear. They simply joke a lot."
I frowned and he mirrored it. "No, they aren't okay."
Snape sighed at me.
"I don't understand, Severus," I said in a low voice, peaking over at his friends who had followed us over here. "They scare me. They really do! Professor Slughorn doesn't like them either when I talked to him."
Severus's frown grew deeper. "Don't like my friends, do you, Evans? What if I don't like yours?" He snarled back bitterly. "James Potter, the arrogant little pixie arse. He's mean, Lily, he's evil, I swear to you. If you knew what he was really like, you wouldn't fancy him."
I gasped in horror. "I don't fancy Potter!" I shouted in protest. "He's not even my friend, Severus. You know I'd never be friends with someone as cruel is him, which is why I'm not particularly fond of your new mates. They're not good people, Severus, and you know that. They could hurt you! They could hurt me. I know you don't want that Severus, please!" I pleaded, trying not to look back at the frightening crowd watching us. They made me nervous, especially when Severus was hanging around them.
"No, Lily!" Severus shouted. "They're my friends!"
"Evans!" A voice called. James. I groaned, extremely annoyed. He did notice it was me. Maybe I shouldn't have shouted... "Is Snivelus bothering you?" He asked, coming over, followed by his entourage of Sirius, Lupin, and Peter.
Severus glared at me. A smirk grew on James's face. "Go away Potter," Severus ordered grimly.
James shrugged. "No can do, Snivelus, you're the one standing in front of the Gryffindor common room," He answered, the smirk multiplying and covering nearly his entire face. "Is he bothering you, Evans?" He repeated sternly, messing up his dark hair. Sirius yawned and picked at his fingernails.
"No," Severus answered.
"Is he bothering you?" James asked for the third time.
"Just answer so we can go," Sirius whined at me.
"I'M NOT BOTHERING-" Severus began, furiously glaring at James.
"Is he bothering you, Lily?"
I sighed and ran a hand through my long auburn hair. "Maybe he is," I answered coldly. "Let's go, James," I said, spinning on my heal. "Unicorn Tickles," I told the fat lady in the portrait, who opened up quietly and I crawled in, with James and his cocky friends following me.
A/N: So that last part was what was in the intro. I hope you enjoyed!
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My last chapter had 100 reads the last time I check. Merlin's beard that's a lot of reads.
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Lily