In your skin

When the fight comes to an end

The two boys stared at each other for a long, long time, while Lily looked between the two with worry and anger. Then, Severus decided to make up a lie - something Slytherins were great at - but was cut short by James.

"This is all my fault" he said, and Lily frowned deeply.

"You're hurt and it's your fault? I don't see how that fits in Sev..."

"I'm not 'Sev'. I'm not Snape. I'm... I'm James Potter" he said slowly, and even Severus was a bit surprised. She stared at the two of them, now completely confused. "And he... He is Severus Snape"

"W-what? I don't..." she mumbled, and James simply sighed.

"I made a plan so I would be able to spend winter break with you. I made a polyjuice potion and stole Snape's potions book so I could make it last longer, and then I made him drink it" he explained, and then looked at Severus. "And I bet he brought a potion to undo this"

"You're correct" Severus said, taking out of his pocket two bottles. Lily took one in her hand and analysed the liquid inside. It did seem like an undoing potion. Clever. They had just learned how to make it.

"I... I can't believe..." she mumbled, and then looked at James angrily. "I can't believe you did this! Seriously Potter?! Are you that desperate?! And... Oh... Now it makes sense that 'James Potter' would send 'Severus Snape' letters doing the winter break! Sev was trying to fix it but you kept lying to me! How do you want me to be your friend if you can't even talk to me like a normal person, Potter?! Drink this potion already so I can talk to my best friend alone!"

With a sigh, James took the potion from her hands, and Severus looked at him quietly. Then, both drank it up and slowly returned to their normal bodies. Severus gave James his glasses back and he sighed, looking at Lily. He still looked terrible, with dry blood under his nose and mouth, a wide bruise on the jaw and a black eye.

"I'm sorry Lil-"

"It's Evans for you Potter. Evans" she said, angrily, but before they could start another argument, the three other boys came back, running.

"He's still after us! Run!" Sirius said, and the six teens started to run away into the forest. After running for quite a while, they reached a field, and no one else was following them any longer.

The three boys looked between Severus and James and then flinched at how terrible James looked.

"Is this you, mate?" Sirius asked, and James let out a weak chuckle, looking at them with a nod.

"It's me, Padfoot. I know I look terrible, but I'll be fine soon. Just a bit of muggle bruising" he said, and then Lily came closer.

"That's also what I wanted to know. Who did this to you?" she asked, and then James looked down at her ashamed, before looking away.

"Snape's father" he said, and the four looked back at where Severus had been standing all along. He shrugged lightly, because he didn't really want to see their pity faces.

"I tried to warn you, Potter, but you didn't listen. You never do" he said, and while James could've been angry at that, he didn't feel angry at all. Actually, he felt worst than he was feeling before.

"Well, I bet you had an excellent Christmas" he said, and Severus chuckled, shrugging once again.

"Your parents are incredibly nice. By the way, your father bought you tickets to the Quiddicht game" he said, looking at James with a smirk. "It's in your room, over the desk. Also, I stole one of your books"

"It's fine. I don't read them anyway" he said back, and then looked awkwardly around. "Well I guess now we... Are going back to normal hun?"

"Yeah. I should be going. Crazy father is waiting for me" Severus said, turning around, but a hand stopped him from moving. He looked back, expecting to be Lily, but it was actually James' hand that was holding him back.

"You can't go back in there. Are you crazy?" James said, while all the others nodded in agreement but Sirius. Severus chuckled and smirked to James, amusement in his eyes.

"Please Potter. I've lived in there for fifteen years. I think I can handle three days just fine. I'm not a spoiled brat like you" he said, before pulling his hand away from James' grip. The Gryffindor just shook his head and pulled away, still staring at him with a bit of concern.

"Alright then. You do what you want"

"Sev" Lily then said, rushing to him and holding his hand. "You can stay over. You don't have to go back"

"Don't worry Lily. I'll see you in three days" he said, giving her a quick hug before walking back into the forest. The red haired girl watched him leave before she turned to the other four with an angry expression.

"You four, get out of here now!"

While the other three walked off quite fast, James looked at her quietly before walking behind the others, looking like a kicked off dog. She would never, ever like him, and now he knew why.

He had two years and a half to fix everything he had done wrong. And he would. He would fix it with her and especially with Snape.

Especially with Snape.