Lily Lives On

Peppermint Gum

Lily ran after Severus shortly afterwards. She caught him right at the entrance to the staircase that led to the Headmaster's office. He didn't even look at her. 

"Sev...”

Apparently, he'd decided to ignore her completely, because the only thing that came out of his mouth was "Peppermint gum."

The griff turned around, revealing the stairs, and he entered without saying a single word to her. She trailed behind him in silence. 

Albus was sitting at his desk, doing some paperwork. When he saw the angry potions master storm in, he blinked at him in confusion. 

“What can I do for you, Severus?”

Snape curled his lip, pointing at Lily. Albus blinked a few more times, clearly confused.

“Severus, I am afraid I don’t quite understand.”

Lily wanted to say something, but Severus stopped her with his murderous glare. “What is the meaning of this?” he snapped at the headmaster with impatience in his voice, pointing at Lily again.

“Sev - “ she began quickly, but he stopped her once more:

“Be quiet! You have already humiliated me enough.”

“I have humiliated you?! No, Sev. You are humiliating yourself, with or without me. Guess who won a nice nickname for himself - Worst Teacher Ever?”

Severus blinked a few times, unsure of what to say.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t know what your students call you..?”

Severus crossed his arms, staying in his brooding silence.

“Yes, you did! That’s what I thought. You just chose to ignore it. Well, Sev, there are things you should not ignore. You are teaching the kids for the kids, after all.”

Severus inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm himself. “Headmaster… I cannot work under such circumstances. If you wish to have me inspected, then at least send somebody who has proper qualification.”

“Severus, I truly do not understand what is happening. As far as I know, there has been no inspection in your classes so far.”

Severus fell silent. And then, very slowly, he turned towards Lily again, white in the face with anger. Lily took a few bold steps toward him, looking him in the eyes. 

“Albus doesn’t know. All blame is mine to bear. If you’d just let me explain…”

“You’ve spoken enough. Leave me alone.”

Severus’ voice had a hint of sadness and disappointment to it. Then, he turned on his heel and left.

Lily let out a heavy sigh. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at her, demanding an explanation for Severus’ strange behavior.

“Um…” she began but didn’t quite know how to wrap it up.

“Have a seat, Mrs Potter.”

Lily did as she was told. When she finally met his eyes, she was surprised to see curiosity and delight rather than confusion and anger, which she would expect. 

“Why is my potions master under the impression that he has been inspected and humiliated by you?”

“Because, well… It’s true.”

“Do tell me more, Mrs Potter.”

Lily straightened her back against the sturdy backrest. “Professor Snape has been titled the Worst Teacher Ever.”

“Yes, Mrs Potter, I am quite familiar with this unfortunate piece of news. Continue.”

Lily sighed. “It hurt me to see the whole school hate the man I feel such a strong connection to, so I decided to see his teaching methods for myself. What I witnessed just minutes ago was… Alarming, to say the least. Severus is mean, unfair and even rude to all students who do not belong in the Slytherin house. And when I demanded he at least say a kind word to a Gryffindor, he decided to take away five Gryffindor house points, without any reason. After I reminded him of the importance of having a reason to do so, he went straight here.”

Albus nodded slowly, not diverting his kind blue gaze from her. “Difficult man, isn’t he?”

“Always,” she told him, smiling in relief at the fact that somebody understood what she had to put up with when it came to Severus.

“You are not very gentle with him… For somebody who is deeply in love.”

“No, sir,” Lily admitted.

“I think you are exactly what I have been looking for.”

“Sir..?”

Albus stood up, taking a kettle with him. “I will make us some tea. And when I come back… Let us discuss an important work opportunity I have for you.”