Secrets Untold

By the time the Fat Lady had given James a congratulatory wink and had swung her portrait out to let the Marauders inside, the Gryffindor common room had been decked with red and gold streamers. There was a miniature fountain on the buffet table that gurgled out hot butterbeer. Trays and trays of food refilled themselves as the hungry students ate and drank in celebration of the end of the year and the new Head Boy and Girl.

Actually, James thought with distaste as at least twenty of his house members came up to sing his praise, whether they already had or not, it was only him they were celebrating. He doubted that Lily was getting half the recognition he was.

James' thoughts were almost on the mark. Clarissa and Nicole were sitting on either side of Lily on the far sofa. Clarissa kept remarking on such things as how Lily's responsibilities would double next year. Nicole had drank one cup too much of butterbeer and could only giggle as she patted Lily's shoulder. But besides those two, Lily had barely spoken to anyone all night. Only Frank Longbottom and Alice Gardia had come over to wish her well as the new Head Girl. Everyone else had been too busy with the festivities or had been waiting for the great James Potter to arrive.

She had a sudden flash of how Lucius had silently toasted her down in the Great Hall. Unwelcome, a chill zipped up from the small of her back to spread in her shoulders. She shuddered, remembering the look in his eyes and decided she didn't want to put a name to that emotion just now.

Lily was just contemplating getting another turkey sandwich, if only to have something to do with her hands other than hold her new badge, when a shadow fell over her. Her head shooting up, her gaze instantly met Sirius Black's.

She blinked once, then twice. She was about to stand in case he wanted to sit beside Clarissa or Nicole, but froze when he spoke.

"Good on you, Evans." Sirius' smirk was present, but it was less teasing than Lily had ever seen it when directed at her. "I have to admit that I was a little surprised, but..." The handsome boy shrugged, stuffing his hands into the sleeves of his robes. "I should have known better than to expect Dumbledore not to believe in you. I mean, I expected him to choose James, after all, and I think everyone knows who else deserves the position if that lughead does."

The redheaded girl was honestly quite baffled from this short speech. Pushing some hair behind her ear, Lily sat feeling stupid for a moment. She had absolutely no idea what to say to that last statement. "Well..." Hunting for words, she chose something simple. "Thank you, Black." A strange feeling came to her head and she smiled. "Thanks a lot."

"Like I said." Black turned to walk toward the buffet tables, already pressing his way through the crowd. "You deserve it."

Astonished still, Lily leaned back on the sofa and stared as Sirius disappeared in the throng of happy Gryffindors. What a remarkable thing; a compliment from Sirius Black, the leader of all impolite young men, who didn't like her much and, although he had never been outright mean, had never been openly kind. Shaking her head slightly, Lily almost laughed out loud. It was turning out to be quite the interesting night.

Glancing at the tall, wooden clock with the golden owl on top, Lily saw it was nearly ten. She stood up, prepared to find Remus and start their obligatory speech. Afterward, she was planning to go upstairs and perhaps finish her book, a mystery novel by a London author - who was a Muggle, by chance - and then get some well-needed rest for the travel to King's Cross station tomorrow morning.

A hand fell onto her shoulder. Startled, she whirled around and her emerald green eyes met hazel ones. Her breath backed up in her lungs. "James," she breathed, forcing it out. Damn it, she'd been hoping to avoid him and his pompous 'I Won' attitude. Immediately on guard, she crossed her arms. "Here to inform me once again of how great you are?"

That one stung a bit hard, but James' expression didn't change and instead of a smart retort, he said, "You're not wearing it."

Befuddled, Lily's caution fell a bit and her arms slackened. "Wearing what?"

"Your medal of honor," he elaborated, easily reaching for the newly awarded badge, which still was clasped in her fingers, and pinning it to her to the front of her robe. Lily struggled for a second with her hand pushing at his wrist, but for a boy who was used to stretching out and grabbing things from kitchens without being seen, it was no difficult task to simply ignore her fuss. "There. Let it show," he told her with a smile. "Be proud of it."

She took a deep breath and held it for a second. "It draws attention," she muttered, feeling it was more of a confession than she had ever given to James Potter. "I'd feel better remaining out of everyone's eye."

"You would?" This was new, thought James. "You, Miss perfect prefect? You, who McGonagall thinks of as her own daughter, would like it more if you weren't so often talked about?"

Wrong approach. Lily's eyes sharpened. "I know very well that I am often talked about, Potter, and I know exactly what people say. Even now," she bit out, shooting a quick glance and a small group huddled over by the fire, whom she had heard her name from several times tonight, "they can't understand why on earth I'd have gotten this bloody thing!"

"All right, all right." James lowered his voice, hoping she'd do the same before she spoke too loudly and accidentally embarrassed herself. "I get it. But you shouldn't be so upset. They don't hate you, Evans."

"Some of them do." She lowered those green orbs to the flush red carpet. "A lot of them do."

"They're just jealous." Not knowing what else he could possibly do or say that would comfort her, he ran a hand through his messy hair, this time out of habit rather than trying to impress. Then he remembered why he'd originally approached her in the first place. Coughing a bit, he shifted his weight to one foot. "Anyway...I suppose congratulations are in order."

Lily's eyes rose, her lashes trembling ever so slightly as her gaze seemed to pulse against his. "Are they really?"

James felt something inside of him that was almost like a sob. But the Gryffindor Chaser hadn't cried since he was six, so he wasn't sure. The one thing he was sure was that, if he could help it, he didn't want those eyes to ever look at anyone but him.

Surprisingly, a smile bloomed on Lily's small mouth, and James felt his heart thump down in his ribs. "This night just keeps coming on with the strange events," she murmured softly. "Thank you, really. I have to find Lupin now and close up the festivities before Professor McGonagall tries to do it herself." She turned away from him to go do her duty, then stopped and looked back. "And by the way... Congratulations to you as well, James."

James. Although he wasn't positive, it might have been the first time Lily had called him by his first name since third year. The thought made him a little happier.

When she was lost in the mass of Gryffindors, James took a seat next to Peter and Sirius. After a few short minutes, Remus and Lily had taken their places on a small platform probably magicked up just then. There was an immediate smattering of applause, mechanical at most, but Lily acknowledged it with an incline of her head anyway. Lupin set a comforting hand on her back and launched into their speech himself:

"Dear Gryffindors," he grinned. "Another end of the year to be thankful for..."

---

Deeply contrasting with the warm, welcome merry-making of the Gryffindor House, Slytherin House was as silent and cold as can be. The chill came from being several stories underground, but the always-negative attitude was the fault of the residents alone.

Discipline. Chastity. Self-duty. It was preached to the Slytherins daily. Maintain yourself. Never partake in unnecessary social event; it only distracts you. And always do whatever is possible to live like a true follower of Salazar Slytherin.

Well, Snape supposed, even Salazar Slytherin probably had nights where he stayed awake to think. He couldn't have just gone to bed and decided to build a school with some people he knew in his sleep, could he? Especially if he wasn't a social person to begin with.

With a soft snort, Snape flipped onto his side on his bed. Here he was, seventeen years old, and he was lying awake in bed thinking of Salazar Slytherin. Well, color him interesting.

If he was honest though, the old Hogwarts founder wasn't the only person on his mind. But the other one had been dwelling in his thoughts like a ghost with separation anxiety for days, or years if it came to the direct truth.

In the second semester of his third year at Hogwarts, Snape had admitted to himself that he had become uncannily interested in the Muggle-born witch named Lily Evans. At the time, Lucius hadn't even blinked at her. She hadn't been of particular attention to anyone until fifth year, when she'd been assigned as a prefect.

That wasn't true, Severus thought with some darkness shading his mind. James Potter had also been willing to give Lily the time of day, and more, back in third year. Of course, they'd only been fourteen-year-old little prats, and nothing had come from anyone's feelings. Lily had ignored both of them, unless it was to return Snape's jibe about Potter, or to scold Potter for being unreasonably mean to Snape.

A memory from fifth year came to mind, one he thought he'd done well to forget. He'd been hanging upside-down in midair, his robes falling down to his face to reveal his underwear. Lily had been laughing behind her hand, oh-so-discreetly...

Small things like that often scarred teenagers. It might have caused some lasting damage on him, but nothing too serious. If it became necessary in the future, he could always use a Pensieve and remove the offending memories from his mind.

One white, bony hand curled into the bed sheet beneath him, and Snape squeezed his eyes shut. Anger flowed over him, tightening his shoulders as he thought of Potter and his monstrous friend, Black. The school treated them like some sort of heroes; instead of defeating beasts, however, they simply defeated Slytherin boys - Lucius Malfoy's lackey.

James was a rival. No matter how much he studied, Severus never could get a higher mark than him on any test, and they rarely tied. He'd never been asked to join a team, let alone be their victory bringer, and he'd never even had a hope of being popular with the fairer sex. And although James wasn't even close to Sirius in that particular category, he did better than Snape.

Snape had stood for it for the last six years. He'd taken the beatings, taken the remarks, taken the countless lashes against his character. Now, he decided as he lay there, staring up at the stone ceiling of the Slytherin boys' dormitory he slept in, he was going to take something else.

Something from James Potter.

Something James would rather die than give up.

One way or another, he was going to take Lily Evans.

---

As Lily walked down the marble staircase that led to the Hogwarts main door, she let out a little sigh. Alone in this part of the castle after making sure all the girls had already left the dormitories and headed for the carriages outside, she took a moment to glance around. She probably hadn't paid this close attention to the details of the room since when she had first entered it as a wide-eyed first-year. Memories turned the corners of her lips up. Peter Pettigrew had clumsily bumped into a table and had knocked over a vase, and, as a Muggle, she had thought they would all be killed for the offense.

But, she recalled, Professor McGonagall had simply whipped the thing back together with a wave of her wand, simply telling Pettigrew to be more careful in the future.

"Miss Evans?" Lily turned on the staircase to see the very woman she was thinking of standing at the head of the stairs. Dressed in full robes with a pointed hat on her head and her hair in its customary tight bun, she was still as impressive a figure as she had been when Lily had first seen here. "Are you quite all right?" the transfiguration teacher inquired as she started down the steps toward her.

Lily nodded hurriedly. "Yes, Professor. I was just...remembering."

McGonagall gave her student one of her small smiles. "This place holds many memories, Miss Evans." Her voice took on a strangely cautious tone. "Sometimes it is best to be careful of which ones we think about too often."

Lily was about to assure the older woman that she was merely thinking of the time when Peter had shattered some glass, but since it occurred to her that McGonagall might find it ridiculous, she instead asked, "Do you ever think about certain things when you're right here, Professor?"

McGonagall arched a thin brow. "Well." Her eyes fell on the massive oak doors that led out to the grounds. "There is one, Miss Evans. It was the year that Professor Dumbledore first came to work here as headmaster. He needed a new transfiguration teacher, and I had come to be interviewed for the position." A larger smile spread her lips. "When the session was over, and he was escorting me to the door, he declared that I would be teaching here in time for the second semester. And then, he asked me one more thing."

Silently, Lily gave her House leader an inquiring look.

"He said, 'Minerva, if you wouldn't mind, I also need a deputy headmaster. Would you be very much against taking the job?' Of course, I agreed, but I was shocked for days." McGonagall's eyes seemed to refocus as she took herself away from her thoughts. To Lily, she added, "That is a good thing for me to remember, Miss Evans."

The Head Girl nodded. "I hope that what you are telling me now will be a good thing for me to remember, Professor."

There was a sort of sheen in McGonagall's eyes behind her square-rimmed glasses that expressed more fondness for young Evans than she had allowed herself to show toward any student. "Well then." Straightening the brim of her hat, she gave Lily an encouraging push as they walked down the stairs. "Let's have you go make your last appearance before everyone's gone home."

---

Her "last appearance," as McGonagall had put it, was a very discreet one. She had simply hugged Clarissa and Nicole once arriving at the station, had picked up her trunk, and was currently moving to the other side of the station to look for her parents.

"So ends another year, eh, Evans?"

A bit startled, Lily gripped the handle of her trolley tighter and whipped her head around. "Snape?"

"What?" the greasy-haired Slytherin sneered. "Are you worried I'm going to mug you and take your precious Head Girl badge?"

She almost, almost told him that he could have the badge and give it to his mother for her birthday but held back. "I'm worried about your motive for talking to me at all."

Truthfully, so was Severus. But he thought of Lucius, and did his best to keep the same cool that his friend always managed to use so expertly. His smirk, however, was more of a twisted crook of lips than an actual smile. "Just wishing you a good holiday, Evans."

Lily didn't know what to think. He didn't seem to have intent to harm her - not at this instant, anyway, as his wand wasn't out - but he didn't seem particularly friendly either. In fact, she couldn't remember a single occasion in which Snape had ever purposely sought her out to exchange words.

She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. It was true that every potentially ill-spirited witch or wizard in England had come from Slytherin House, but not every Slytherin student had become a potentially ill-spirited witch or wizard.

"Well, then..." It was a struggle to say the words, but Lily managed well enough. "Have a good holiday yourself, Snape."

She thought she saw some flicker of...whatever it was...behind the boy's coal-black eyes. But she hardly had time to consider it before Snape turned briskly on his heel and stalked off to where he had left his trolley. Curiosity even had her nearly following him, but--

"Lily! Sweetheart!"

She turned, red hair swirling in the warm spring breeze. Her eyes danced when she saw her parents, smiling and waving to her from the other side of the platform. Petunia was with them - at the insistence of her father, no doubt - but she looked less enthusiastic. Actually, she looked simply disappointed that her sister had come home. Probably, Lily imagined, Petunia had been hoping that Lily would be eaten by a dragon or some other such horrible fate.

She hurried to join her parents with a smile, forgetting all about Snape and his strange attitude. A sadness at leaving Hogwarts was settling over her, but she shoved it aside. She was home.