Chasing Lily Evans

Severus Snape

James couldn't tear his eyes away. Every second he continued with eyes glued to the scene, a feral monster spit flames in his stomach. Finally, he couldn't bear any more and turned away forcefully, walking in the opposite direction. 

After a few minutes of numbness, he realised he had no idea where he was going. He stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath. So, Lily was snogging the handsome git in the hallway. She was perfectly entitled to. Even though he was about as bright as a teacup, and as funny as Snivelly on a good day. How he wished she would be with Snivelly instead of Eric Gold, so his annoyance could be justified. Being so upset about this matter would only mean... the only possible reason... 

James shook his head and trotted purposefully towards the dormitory. No thoughts of Evans or Gold would be allowed, ever. Whatever he felt did not matter; he was an ignorant prat for a long time and he couldn't snap his fingers and make his actions go away. Evans was a teenaged infatuation, nothing more, and it was just an old flame that makes him want to tear Eric away and take his place instead...

James sighed and murmured the password to the Fat Lady and stepped through the portrait hole. To his surprise, he found Sirius lounging on an armchair, two flasks in his hands. 

"Well, you certainly took your sweet time," he drawled, waving at him, "I've been worried sick, you know." He handed James a flask and stared back into the fire. 

James accepted the flask and sat down in the opposite armchair. He cautiously sniffed the contents, which smelled a bit like Bubotuber pus.  

"What the bloody hell is this?" he asked, suspiciously. 

"It's a Sobering Solution," Sirius told him, not looking away from the fire, "You don't to wake up with a nasty headache and give McGonagall a fright, now, do you?" 

James took a swig and nearly gagged; it tasted worse than the trick sweets from Zonko's. Nevertheless, he continued to drink with watery eyes. "Why're you still up?" he asked, coughing.

Sirius pondered his answer and fiddled with the flask's cork. "Let's just say I happened to have an unwanted and excruciatingly unpleasant brotherly bonding session." His eyes darkened and he crushed the cork with his fist.

"There he was," he continued, unaware of James' sympathetic expression, "My idiot brother, roaming the hallways and trying to meet up with Severus Snape, of all people." His mouth twisted in disgust, "I went up to him-- Butterbeer must've really messed up my head-- and asked him, no, begged him, to run away with me." His eyes became glassy and he hung is head. 

"I told him it would just be me and him, like the old days, and that he didn't owe Voldemort anything. I told him mum was brainwashing him, for, when had she ever cared for anything but her reputation?

"He looked so vulnerable and shocked that I thought, just for a fleeting moment, that he'd listen. That he'd take this chance and we could be brothers again. But then," Sirius' lip curled, "He caught sight of dear old Snivellous." He stared into the fire, as if reliving that single moment of betrayal again, when his brother's last chance of redemption was shattered.

"What happened?" James asked, quietly. Sirius smiled, his teeth gleaming, "I hexed Snape, of course. Little bro quickly snapped into action and sneered at me and I gave him a heck of a makeover." James' face cracked into a grin. 

"Well, I think it was--"

There was a small commotion outside the portrait hole and snippets of conversation could be heard.

"Well, I was at Slughorn's--"

"I'm not trying to sneak in--"

Then suddenly, the portrait hole swung open and in stepped none other than Lily Evans, her face flushed. Eric's blonde hair could be seen just outside as he grinned and bid her a goodbye. Lily felt girlish and free, walking into the common room in shoes that had probably fractured her feet. 

James slid down as far as he could go in his chair, hiding himself from view. Sirius looked at him quizzically when Lily caught sight of him. 

"Black," she greeted him, heading towards the girls' dormitory, lost in her thoughts. 

***

The next day saw a crowd following around Lily and Eric as they took a stroll in the lawns, laughing and talking. They stared at each other sneakily at meal times, before one of them got up to meet the other. It was a terrible ordeal for James.

A week of this disgustingly heartfelt 'dating' made the whole school swoon as the new topic of interest became the love life of the handsome Hufflepuff, captain of the Quidditch team, and the temptress Evans, who had even caught the eye of the infamous Potter. Updates were shared in lavatories and even Peeves was seen scattering roses along the hallways. 

"Prongs," Peter motioned to him to join him on the bench, "Why'd you miss breakfast?" 

"Wasn't really that hungry..."

"Well," Sirius said, mockingly, sliding in next to James, "Isn't that just the stupidest thing I've ever heard?"

James sighed, "I really wasn't, I swear. I was hanging around with Nearly Headless Nick... d'you know he's having a deathday party? Something to do with the Fat Friar." 

"Drop the act, Prongs," Peter told him, sighing, "We've all seen Lily and Eric trotting off into the sunset while you slink away and try to avoid them as much as possible. It's weird, I tell you." Sirius nodded enthusiastically and looked over his shoulder, grinning. "Well, Jamesie," he chuckled, "Looks like you're not the only one feeling a little, er, jealous." James protested against the over exaggeration but Sirius just point to a pair behind them, setting up cauldrons.

"I like him," Lily said coldly, banging a silver knife furiously on the table, "It's none of your business." 

"But why," Severus protested, his hair till his shoulders now, "Would you date Eric Gold?" He seemed to have lost the coolness that surrounded him and his Slytherin friends as he argued with her. 

"Because I like him, and he fancies me, too!" Lily told him, frustrated, "You lost the right to complain about my relationships a long time ago, Sev." His lip turned at the corner at the familiar nickname. 

"I'm really sorry, can't we just, I don't know, be friends again?" He looked pleadingly into Lily's hard eyes. "You hurt me," she said, without emotion, "So, no, a sorry isn't going to cut it. Enjoy with your little Death Eater friends." Severus opened his mouth to make a snippy remark about her friendship with Potter and his gang, but he closed it again; he wasn't wanted, and he would only make things worse for himself.

He passed James on his way out, who discreetly sent a Bat Bogey hex his way, making for a terrible surprise down the hallway.