Lily Evans' true sacrifice - FINISHED -

1996 - The room of requirement

The day after their visit to the Longbottom' house, as she was about to go out for breakfast, Lily received a scribbled note from Severus under her door.

Meet me on the seventh floor after the last prefect's partrol - HBP -

Severus could easily have contacted her by thought, but Lily appreciated the nostalgic, almost romantic, touch of this piece of paper and the straight, tight handwriting of her friend. He had even used his old signature, as a promise to be the teenager he had been.

Lily had spent the day wondering what they would do with the evening. There was nothing exciting she knew about the seventh floor. She'd spent some time there, as it was the Gryffindor common room. Perhaps Severus wanted to visit Dumbledore, whose office entrance was at the end of the corridor. It seemed unlikely, especially in the middle of the night. Lily hoped it wasn't a bad idea. They had once considered taking the sorting hat hostage to change houses, or breaking into the Headmaster's office to find books containing more magic than they were taught in class. But these had all been children's jokes with no concrete plan.

The Occlumancy session with Harry had gone well. He was a quick learner and had become accustomed to Lily's Snape-like teaching methods, minus the constant animosity that had built up between the two wizards since Harry had arrived in first year. Even though she understood where it came from, Lily couldn't help but condemn Severus' attitude towards Harry, who had only been eleven when he arrived at Hogwarts. If the two of them could have got on, it would have made things so much easier for her.

She had then helped Professor Slughorn to mark papers and assess potions made by third years. It reminded her of when, as a child, Severus would come back with an idea that she had to check, often by testing the techniques her friend had copied in the margins of his books. She suspected that these repetitive correction tasks must have been a bore for Severus. Most of the students had not understood the teacher's explanations and the writing often betrayed a total lack of interest in the subject. She found four copies with identical contents, except for the name.

The library was the only place where she felt perfectly at ease. She could go there and read in silence, as she had done when she was a student. No one was interested in her and the ghosts crossing the shelves only seemed to see a student a little too old for a seventh year.

The truth is that she was looking forward to the end of the day. All these hours seemed to be filled with nothing but distractions. She had restrained herself from delving into her friend's mind for answers that would only spoil the surprise. What was Severus up to?

Late that evening, alone in her room, Lily prepared herself. She wanted to make a good impression on Severus, without him suspecting her of having done so. To do so, she had to change her outfit three times and revise her make-up before settling on a simple line of eyeliner and a little mascara. She had loosened her long red hair, which fell over her shoulders and contrasted with the seriousness of her outfit. She looked in the mirror at her dark red shirt, tucked into white trousers that went up her waist. Satisfied, she spun around several times, dancing to an imaginary tune.

She left her room, doing her best to appear in her element, strolling around after lights out. When she reached the seventh floor, Severus was waiting for her at the top of the stairs. He stood impassively, hands behind his back, and his eyes lit up when he saw Lily coming. He walked over to her and offered her his arm, which she gladly took.

"There's something I wanted to share with you; follow me," Severus said. Lily would have followed any suggestion his deep, steady voice might have offered.

They walked down the corridor. Lily glanced at the picture on the wall beside her. She recognised Barnabas the Fool trying to teach ballet to trolls. When they reached the end, rather than turning right to continue, Severus turned back and they walked back down the corridor. Lily felt her friend's mind focusing on defences. It made no sense, but Severus seemed to know exactly what he was doing and Lily decided to follow him. She joined her thoughts with the wizard's and said nothing when, once back in front of the stairs, Severus turned around again.