It was too late to find Sirius that day by the time Lily returned to the Gryffindor common room, but she wasn't going to let herself forget that he would be on the receiving end of one of her verbal lashings. The following morning, Lily awoke earlier than usual, got dressed, and headed down to the common room, wanting to ensure that she would see Sirius before he had a chance to escape. If he had any sense, he would know she was upset with him already.

Sure enough, Sirius Black came down into the common room with his friends. It seemed that the Marauders were grouped together again, now that James had surely seen the supposed truth about Severus Snape. Lily scowled darkly, wondering how he could be so easily swayed. One day he was beginning to be more mature and finally accept that she was with Severus, and the next he was ready to act as if none of that mattered.

"Hey, Lily," James cheekily greeted her as he purposefully messed up his hair, Lily noticed.

"Hey, yourself," Lily practically spat back. "Give it up, will you, Potter? The last thing your hair needs is to be messed up further. If anything, I'd say you need to run a comb through it and maybe even use a charm to keep it permanently in place."

"Jeez, Lily, what's the problem?" Potter asked, actually having the nerve to sound slightly put out.

Lily sighed. She knew he liked her, but she wasn't in the mood to deal with his boyish tendencies. "I need to talk to Black," she said pointedly.

"Whatever it is, you can say it in front of all of us," Potter argued, now clearly annoyed.

"I'm going down to breakfast," Lupin muttered. "C'mon, Peter." He pulled gently on his friend's sleeve, and the two boys left the common room, although Pettigrew had to stupidly look over his shoulder.

"What d'you want, Evans?" Black asked tiredly, as if Lily were an errant fly needing to be brushed away.

"Fine!" Lily exclaimed. "Since you're so thick-headed, Potter, you can stay, but this is between us," she said, indicating Black and herself.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Potter replied, "Fine, whatever."

"I supposed you've come to defend your precious Sniv-" Black started to say, but Lily cut him off.

"You will not call him that horrible name ever again," she hissed. "I know what he did to you, Black, and I'm not excusing his behavior, but what you did to provoke him was very low. I just so happened to see his file yesterday when I went to the infirmary, and I was disgusted to see how many times he'd been sent to the infirmary because of you." Glaring hotly at both boys, Lily's rage was fueled to continue. "You had no right to talk that way to Severus, especially after he's just lost his mother. Maybe you don't have a mother who loves you, but his mum was one of the few people in his life who ever gave a damn about him. Just because you don't understand what kind of life he's led doesn't mean it's okay for you to treat him as if he's worth nothing. He's a person. A person with feelings."

"Oh, poor Sniv- er, Snape has had a hard life, has he?" Black questioned, truly angry. "If what you say is true, that his mum at least loved him, then that's one thing he has... had... that I never did. You and James don't know what it's like to grow up in a family full of Dark wizards. My parents support You-Know-Who and are tickled pink that Regulus is growing up to follow in their footsteps. I was never wanted in their house, and that's why I moved out at sixteen. Yes, Evans, that's right. Only because of James here and his kind parents did I have a place to go. So, don't give me that rubbish, that Snape is the only one who's had it hard."

"But at least you've had friends... I mean, real friends," Lily countered. "The four of you have been inseparable since day one at Hogwarts. Do you really think those bastards who revelled in tormenting Severus earlier this year, the same ones who he used to call his friends, were ever really his friends? No! No, they weren't. I didn't know about your family life so much, Black, and I'm sorry it's been rough for you, but maybe... maybe instead of fighting Severus, you all ought to try and get along? I don't mean you have to be friends, but he wants nothing more to do with the Death Eaters and what they stand for than you both do."

Lily, having intended to simply give Sirius a good verbal lashing, found that her initial fury was abating. She knew it was unlikely Severus and the Marauders would ever reconcile, but she had to hope.

"You're kidding, surely?" Black asked incredulously.

"I think she's serious, mate," Potter said frankly. Looking directly at Lily, Potter continued, "If what you're saying is true, it's going to take more than you telling me to convince me, Lily. I even tried to give Snape the benefit of the doubt, and it only drove a wedge between Sirius and me... and then Snape attacks my best mate. How am I supposed to take that?"

Lily understood his point, and it was fair. She was too emotionally involved to see things objectively, but being a reasonable enough person, Lily conceded, "Fine, then Severus will have to just prove it to you that he's not the evil person you seem to think he is... and I have no doubt he will... especially since he already has." Lily found it difficult to speak with as much conviction as she wanted. As much as she cared for and loved him, Lily was still apprehensive about his use of Dark Magic, and trying to convince his adversaries to see the Light in him was no easy task, especially with the latest events.

"Snape hasn't proven anything except that he's still just as capable of being a Dark wizard as before," Black stated contemptuously. "If slicing me open several times doesn't convince you, Evans, then you must be under a really strong Confundus Spell."

"And you just conveniently forgot that he also promptly healed you?" Lily questioned. "He didn't mean to attack you like that. He lost control because you provoked him!"

"Right," Black grounded out harshly. "You keep telling yourself that, and maybe you'll actually believe it."

"That's enough, mate," Potter said repressively. Looking back at Lily, he said, "I don't know why you're so intent on defending him, but for your sake, I'll leave him alone... see if that does any good and if he actually gives us a reason to believe what you say."

"Thank you, Pot- James," Lily replied, grateful he was trying. "And what about you?" she asked, looking at Black.

"I owe you nothing, Evans. I'm not infatuated with you like James here, so I have no reason to bow to your demands. But-" He glanced momentarily at James, noticing that his friend was giving him a pointed look. "But for his sake, because he's my best friend, I'll lay off the sorry bastard." He sighed. "C'mon, James, let's go."

Sirius walked toward the door, his pride seemingly deflated entirely. His slumped shoulders were not characteristic of him. James frowned at his friend's retreating form and looked back at Lily.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he said grimly and followed his friend.

Lily left the common room a couple of minutes later, relieved that she had spoken some sense into James and Sirius. She made her way down to the Great Hall, wondering if she would see Severus there. Breakfast passed, and she didn't see him. Growing worried, Lily left the Great Hall and headed toward the guest wing. She had told him yesterday that she needed time, but now, as she approached his door, she worried that he might have taken what she had said the wrong way.

Knocking gently on his door, Lily was at least glad it was Sunday, so they had all day to talk if need be. From inside his room, Severus was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He heard the knocks, but chose to ignore them.

Go away, Lily. You don't really want to be here.

"Sev," Lily's voice then came from behind the door. "Open up. I know you're in there."

"I'm fine, Lily," he snapped. "I don't need anything."

"Open up, Severus," Lily stated, obviously ignoring his request.

"And what if I said no?" Severus replied, perhaps more harshly than he had intended.

Just as Lily feared, he had taken her words the wrong way. It hadn't mattered that she had parted with a gentle kiss bestowed to his forehead, a simple promise that she wasn't abandoning him. Severus had spent the past several hours brooding within the confines of his bedroom, believing he hadn't changed for the better at all, believing he had driven Lily away.

"Then I would say you're an even bigger idiot than I realized," Lily said heatedly.

There was a bang, and the door was open. Lily's wand was out as she entered, and Severus sat up, shocked she had used magic to gain entrance. If she wanted something, she would get it.

"Lily, what the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" Severus asked, standing up.

He went to the door and slammed it shut. Folding his arms over his chest, he stood rigid and mustered the best glare he could. Trying to use his height advantage to be imposing, he looked down his nose at Lily, much in the way he had at students when he had been a professor.

"Oh, drop the act, Severus," Lily said exasperatedly. "You don't scare me."

"Really?" he inquired darkly. "I was under the impression yesterday that you were feeling quite the opposite."

"Severus, what's the matter with you?" Lily asked, hurt. "Of course I was shocked by what happened, but what did you expect? You should know better by now than to think I'd just up and leave you! Have a little more faith in yourself, in me, in us!"

"In... us?" Severus asked, his wall breaking. No matter how much he tried to be cold, he couldn't, not toward Lily. He didn't have to completely dissolve into an emotional spring of watery emotion, however.

Relieved to hear his voice giving in, Lily stepped closer and placed a hand on his forearm, right over the part which had been branded with the Dark Mark in another life. Severus shuddered, but he didn't uncross his arms. His shoulders relaxed slightly.

"Yes, in us, Sev," Lily said gently, looking intently into his black eyes, searching his soul for understanding.

Severus finally relented and unfolded his arms, going to the bed and sinking into it. He sighed and buried his face in his hands. "I'm such a fool," he muttered.

Lily took a seat next to him and rubbed small circles into his back. "Maybe," she said softly, "but a fool who I love."

Severus withdrew his face from his hand and stared at her. "You're unbelievable," he breathed. "You're too good to be true. You're..." ...the only good I have.

Lily shook her head. "No, Sev. This is real, but you must understand that... that I'm not the only one on your side. I just got done talking with Potter and Black, and they've agreed to give you a chance."

Furrowing his brow, Severus responded negatively, "I don't need or want their sympathy simply because you've asked them for it. I don't believe they would offer it otherwise."

Lily knew this was a sore subject for him, but she had no idea the depth to which Severus took it. He was still trying to learn in this life what it was to let go of a deeply-embedded grudge, a grudge he had taken pleasure in taking out on Harry Potter. Thinking about it now, feeling forced into changing something that had consumed a large part of his life, both then and now, Severus wasn't ready to let it go... not yet, at least. Not even Lily could make him see reason at the moment, and so, Severus was being foolish when he said, "If that's what you came here to say, Lily, you can leave now. I've got the message, plain and clear."

Hurt by the sudden coldness in his voice, Lily withdrew her hand from his back. "Surely you don't mean that," she said, on the verge of tears. She had tried so hard to fight for him, and this was the thanks she got?

Severus, refusing to say anything, turned away. Lily stood and left quickly, a chilling breeze left in her wake, and the door slammed, shattering what little hope Severus had left.