Prophecies and Betrayals (sequel to The Marauders)

6

"Look, what I said was a mistake..."

"You don't 'accidentally' call someone a Mudblood! Especially your own friend!"

Lily was livid. Her face was flushed as red as her hair, and her beautiful green eyes spat sparks.

"Lily, it was an accident!" Snape tried again, almost pleading with her to understand. "I didn't mean to! It was a dare!"

He knew right then he had made a big mistake in saying that last part.

"A DARE?" Lily shrieked incredulously, taking a step back with narrowed eyes. "Oh, well that really clears everything up. That explains it perfectly, Severus."

"Lily..." Snape sighed, unsure how to proceed without angering her further. This was not going well. When he had stopped Lily in the empty corridor outside of Charms that morning, he had been expecting a good conversation to put a stop to her persistent ignorance of him since the incident. Now he almost preferred her ignorance over her incense. 

"Lily." he said again, clearing his throat. "I didn't think it through."

"Well that's bloody obvious."

"Wait, please! Just hear me out," Snape pleaded as she turned to go away. She turned around slowly, crossed her arms, and raised an eyebrow. Snape took this to mean she was waiting for him to continue.

"I wasn't thinking. I just wanted to get in with Lucius and the gang. And...I...I'm sorry." the last two words felt unfamiliar on his lips. He wasn't used to apologizing. No one in his family ever did. But his apology seemed to lessen Lily's fury just a bit.

"Lucius and the rest told you to do that? And you listened?" Lily asked. HShe had calmed down enough by this point to mask her emotions. Snape had no idea what was going on in those hard green eyes, which gave no hint as to what his answer should be.

"Well...not exactly." Severus muttered, looking down at his feet. "They said that if I wanted to join them, I had to do an initiation to prove my loyalty to them. They wanted me to cut you off because you're...well...you're..." he stuttered, cheeks flushing. He didn't want to say it.

Lily's eyes narrowed to slits. "Because I'm a Mudblood."

It wasn't a question.

Snape nodded, eyes still glued to his feet.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Lily sighed. "You send so much time and energy trying to get in with the wrong crowd, Sev. You're pushing away everyone who truly cares about you."

"You care about me?" Snape looked up, unable to resist a spark of hope, but there was nothing in her eyes.

"Yes, you're one of my closest friends. And someday it will get me killed." Lily offered a small smile, but Snape didn't find this funny. In fact, his gut seemed to clench with her words, an ominous feeling that she might be right.

Shaking the feeling, Snape turned to her. "So we're good?" 

Lily hissed a soft breath between her straight white teeth. "I don't know, Sev. You have to cut me off for that group, right?"

"Yea, but they wouldn't know I was still seeing you." Snape said earnestly.

"So, what? We're supposed to hide in the shadows, making sure no one sees us? Like a couple of kids playing hide and seek?" Lily sighed and ran her work-hardened fingers through her soft red hair. Snape's eyes tracked the movement.

"No, Sev. I am not something for you to be hiding, something you're ashamed of."

"I'm not ashamed of you!" Snape retorted, but at that moment, he heard Lucius' drawling voice drawing near. Without thinking, he grabbed Lily's hand and dragged them further into the shadows as Lucius and Bellatrix passed, laughing about some poor first-year they had hexed in the common room.

Snape let out a breath after they left, feeling his face pale as he realized what he had said. As he looked down at Lily's raised eyebrows, he knew. His point was unconvincing. He had definitely acted ashamed of her. But...was he? 

"You're not ashamed of me?" Lily cocked her head sarcastically. "Ok, Sev. Since you're so in to initiatiations, how about this one? You don't hide our friendship. Let them think what they want."

"I would've failed the initiation then," Snape said quietly. "I-I can't do that. I'm sorry, Lily."

Lily said nothing, just nodded as a flicker of hurt passed through her eyes. She moved to leave again, and Snape caught her arm, desperate for her to understand. 

"Lily, they're my friends!" 

"And I thought we were friends too." Lily said, voice only showing a sliver of the pain they were both in. "Goodbye, Severus."

Snape loosened his grip on her arm, letting her go even though all he wanted to do was clutch her to him and stroke her hair, telling her he didn't mean to hurt her. But he held his ground, watching her leave the corridor. Leave his life. 

And he knew right then and there, that he had just made the biggest mistake of his life. 

A\N Hope you guys liked this chapter! Feel free to give any feedback you have in the comments, I always appreciate it XD

Please stick around for chapter 7, which will come out Friday, February 12th!