Being Minnie's Daughter

NEW Chapter 10 (not a rewrite - completely new)

Lily's POV

"An EE," I whisper furiously to Remus who's sitting next to me in potions today. "How did I get an EE?"

He shakes his head, "I don't know, our potion looked great to me."

Slug horn walks around again and hands Remus his essay back. His mouth drops. "I got an EE too." He looks over to his left and sees Mack sitting with Marlene. "Mackenzie," he hisses, "what did you get on your essay?"

"I haven't gotten mine back yet." She says quietly.

Slughorn hands back the rest of the pieces of parchment and returns to the front of the room. He claps his hands together and everyone's muttering stops. "Congratulations to Mackenzie and Marlene. They were the only ones to brew a nearly perfect Draught of the Living Death. While majority of the essays I received were excellent I had to reflect the quality of the potion in your essay grade as well."

I shake my head and Remus turns behind us to Potter and Longbottom sitting behind us. "How did you do?" He asks quietly.

"A," I hear Potter say.

"EE," Longbottom responds.

I see Remus nod out of the corner of my eye and he turns his head back to the front just as Slughorn announces that we are dismissed from class.

I start packing my bag and my eye is drawn to Severus who is writing in his textbook. He grabs his bag off his chair and starts walking out of the room while still holding his book.

Marlene and Mackenzie walk over and start speaking to Remus quietly while I finish packing my own bag. Those three keep talking about the essays we got back as we walk out of potions. I keep my eye on Severus scribbling furiously in front of me as we walk down the hallway.

"Coming back to the Common Room with us?" Marlene taps me quickly.

"You go ahead," I motion.

She notices me watching Severus and shakes her head silently. "Okay," she says a moment later, "See you later." She loops her arm through Mackenzie's and heads up the staircase with the Marauders following closely behind.

I see Potter give me a curious look but ignore it.

I walk down the adjacent hallway following Sev as he walks towards an abandoned alcove. No one ever comes down this hallway. The classrooms here are unused.

He sits down still writing, not even noticing me follwoign along.

I sit down on the bench next to him but turn to lean my back against the wall. I tuck my knees up and wrap my arms around them.

"Whatcha writing Sev?" I say quietly, alerting him to my presence. He jumps for a moment, his quill drawing a line across the page. He pauses for a moment longer before looking up at me. I lean forward and see writing around the edges of the instrucitons for the Draught of the Living Death.

He sighs and holds out the textbook closer to me so I can read it more clearly. His handwriting has always been a mess.

"I'm making adjustments."

I shake my head, chuckling quietly. "Arent you always?"

He rolls his eyes and starts writing again. "That new girl made almost a perfect draught. And we all got points off."

"Her name is Mackenzie," I mutter under my breath, knowing the point is going to be mute.

He shrugs. "Did you get an EE too?"

I look up at his face. He never asks about my grades, its just something we don't talk about. "Yes."
"Aren't you mad at her for bringing your grade down?"
I shake my head, "No, why would I be mad? It's a hard potion to make."

He shakes his head furiously, "I should've done better than her."

I place my hand out on his wrist. "Just because someone did better than you doesn't mean you aren't good at it anymore."

He brushes off my hand and I sigh. "Sev..."

He sighs too, brushing his hair out of his face. "You really need to get a haircut Sev," I say quietly, reaching out to tug on a piece of his hair.

"I like it long," he says quietly, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

"It makes you look like a hillbilly," I laugh leaning away from him.

"Yeah okay Carrottop," he chuckles.

I smile, "I knew I could make you feel better. So, what are these changes you are making?" I ask.

And that gets him talking. We spend almost the whole free period just sitting there talking about the changes to the potion. He complains for a bit about not knowing what to do about the juice needed from the sopophorous bean before I finally mention crushing it. HE pauses and looks up at me with wide eyes. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"Because you weren't thinking," I say with a grin.

He shakes his head and starts scribbling it down. 'What would I do without you?" I hear him mutter quietly to himself.

I don't say anything and instead open my textbook to start jotting down what he's been writing.

A moment later, well maybe a few since I was able to get down all his changes, footsteps come towards the hallway. Hushed voices follow and Severus looks up fast. From my angle I can't see anyone, just a black robe.

Whoever it is makes Severus stand up quick and start packing his bag.

"Where are you going?" I ask quietly but he ignores me.

I start to reach out my hand to grab his wrist but he moves away faster. I watch as he walks down the hall towards the voices before I hear.

"Hey Snape, we were wondering where you disappeared off to."

Avery, of course its Avery and the other bloody Slytherins. The footsteps stop and then I hear them start going in the opposite direction.

I lean around the corner and see Severus leading them down the hall away from me. I shake my head. It feels like I'm losing him more and more every day.

I pack my textbook back in my bag and start walking down the hallway the other way, taking the long route to Ancient Runes.

I keep my eyes down the entire walk until I bump into someone. I look up just in time to see Remus turning around.

"Oh hey Lily," Remus says with a small smile, "How are you?"

"I'm okay," I say softly.

He nods and holds out his arm. "Can I walk you to class my lady?"

"Only if you remain polite," I say with a laugh.

He chuckles, "Well I'm no Sirius so I think that is achievable."

We walk the rest of the way down another abandoned hallway towards Ancient Runes.

"Did he do something?" Remus says quietly when we almost reach the classroom.

I shrug.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Remus says, "I just want to make sure you're okay."

"Why? So, you can report to James he doesn't have to go beat up Severus?"

He pulls me to a stop. "No, because you're my friend and I care about you. Come on Lil, you know you're basically my sister. Plus, when have I ever told James about the stuff you tell me."

"Never," I say quietly. I look up at him to see him smiling down at me. "Thanks Remus."

Years ago, when I was upset after another letter from my mother about how Petunia was still refusing to write me back, Remus stepped up and said he'd take over as my brother. I had given him a weird look but said okay. Ever since he's always been here for me and me for him.

"Some Slytherins started approaching and he just got up and walked away from me without even saying anything."

Remus nods. He may not like my friendship with Severus but he never says it out loud. "I don't like those Slytherins he hangs out with," Remus says shaking his head. "There's just something about them."

I nod. "They give me a weird gut feeling."

"Yeah, me too."