Ch 16 a loving farewell

IMPORTANT NOTE: hi people it's been a long time since I posted any kind of note and I am requesting you help to support me on P_A_T_R_E_O_N. i know it may be too much to ask but as you all know I have not been able to upload for a few months, it's because of my college and that makes it much hard for me to upload new chapters and I really hope to get some support from u guys because it would be really helpful to me and in the P_A_T_R_E_O_N you guys can also vote which novel should I post next or help me in noval editing works and stuff, I will also do my best to upload at least two chapters a day of any novel which i am uploading, so please support me guys thank you guys 🙂.

https://www.patreon.com/Tony_stark_3000?fan_landing=true&view_as=public

This is my P_A_T_R_E_O_N link please support me.thank you guys

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Lily stared at herself in the mirror she had commandeered, forcing a smile as she tried to finish applying the last bit of make-up. It would probably all be for naught by the end of the day, but she hoped that it would at least last through the ceremony.

Her father deserved no less.

There, with the last brush of blush her hair and make-up were finally perfect, or at least as close to it as she could get. 'Although my father would probably say that I look like a clothing store mannequin, taking a stroll down the block...' Lily gritted her teeth to stop herself from crying, ruining the last several hours of work, her reflection doing the same. After a minute's struggling, she allowed her grimace to return to a sad smile, the battle against tears won...at least for now.

Merlin, she missed her dad. Now they would never get to do all those things that they should have gotten the chance to do together. He wouldn't get to see her graduate, see her get married, or see his first grandchild. Because of that car crash...so many opportunities would be missed, never to return again...all because he had crashed into somebody else's car, killing the both of them.

Lest she lose her battle against tears again, Lily tried to focus on something happier...like the letter to Perseus she had sent earlier that morning. Although her friendship with Severus had gotten...closer since the events of Wednesday, she didn't want to neglect the relationship she had with Severus'...alter-ego.

It would be nice to have a second person helping her help Severus, after all...even if that second person was herself.

Dear Perseus,

I'm sorry that I've taken so long to get back to you about this. I have had to deal with some issues of late, and am very glad for your patience.

In regards to ambition and your goal...I'm sure that just about everyone wants people to respect them and admire them, even if really deep down. It might be greed, but it's a greed that most share anyway. As for a desire for power...

Lily had thought a great deal about her answer before finally continuing.

...what sort of power are you referring to? There are a number of different sorts of power I suppose, so what do you mean? Is it the ability to kill people, like some sort of comic book? Is it something else? What do YOU want?

As for myself...

Lily had paused, before simply writing an idle dream from before, nothing better coming to mind. It wasn't a particularly important question really, hardly worth spending a good deal of thought on.

I suppose that I would like to be a Healer, at Saint Mungo's. It would be a good way to help others, and it's a profession well-respected in the wizarding world, you know?

As for your friends...

Lily thought about that topic for quite some time, as it in her opinion was the crux of the matter. Severus' relationship with his friends...it seemed more disturbing to her each and every time she saw them interact. It was like...he seemed their lackey or their servant more than their friend...

She couldn't imagine requiring her friends to do her homework for her because of some silly pair of dress-robes that she doubted anyone cared about...and even before that, doing Mulciber's Potion-work...

It felt very strange indeed...

...I must ask again, could you tell me more about them? How close are you to them, REALLY? I mean...there are the sort of friends that you chat with when you run into them...then there are the sort that you seek out in an effort to talk to them, to get their opinion on matters, you know?

Lily's frienship with Severus wasn't like that though, it was stranger. While he certainly talked to her a fair bit, he seemed to avoid topics that were really bothering him. He also was quiet much of the time, being (as her mother would call him) the strong, silent type.

Still...he had been there for her a lot over the past couple of days, taking meals down to the Potions Classroom during breaks (breakfast was her favorite, as he always brought her eggs and rashers, even when they weren't serving it), among other things. She had generally secluded herself there for most of the time, since she had been permitted to take the week off classes, something she supposed she should have been grateful for...but when there was nothing to do, there was nothing keeping her from spending all of her time thinking about her father's death...

In her efforts to keep herself from obsessing over it, Lily had probably managed to finish off the rest of the year's Potions homework.

He still wasn't talking much about his mother, his friends, nor the...overly-physical conclusion to their shouting match. It was particularly aggravating, although Lily had yet to bring it up either, easily allowing herself to get distracted by her issues of late. Of course, it wasn't that the...conclusion to their fight bothered her in the same way as the other two issues, which she knew perfectly well were more important.

Still, if he could kiss like that...maybe another date was in order sometime in the future, if he was interested of course. The last one had gone quite well in her opinion, even if the aftermath had been rather...confusing.

She did wish that he would talk to her more though.

She also wondered why he lied to his friends if he cared so much about them.

In regards to this girl...perhaps try telling your friend more about her, or if she's not willing to listen, tell me. I do hope that this girl is doing alright after the break-up. Still, consider whether your friend might have a point?

As for the situation with Evelyn...although Lily rather disliked the girl's choices on principle, if Severus seemed so worried about her, perhaps it was something worth checking in on. After all, just because she was a...less-than-savory individual didn't mean that Lily wasn't about to help her if needed, only that she'd prefer that Severus...made different choices for friends.

If only some of her friends would give him a chance, then she'd show him what he was missing...

As for the Dark Arts, I'll admit that I've done a bit of reading on them...

She had needed something to do after finishing all those bits of Potions-work, after all.

...but I'm not certain if it's something I'd really want to study myself, although perhaps I could help you get the kinks out of your spell; mind sending me a description? I won't help if it's REALLY dangerous, but if it's something you'd use on a classmate... Still, the fact that you'd avoid hexing him unless provoked is a good thing.

Lily was about to end the letter then, but a thought came to her.

Out of curiosity, Perseus, what did you do to cope with your mother's death, apart from basking in your friend's presence? Just wondering.

Your friend,

Medusa

Lily smiled, remembering how thoughtful Severus had been in his last letter...although perhaps it had been because he was mourning her father's death as well. It was a topic that still remained mostly unexplored between the two of them, although the silence no longer seemed uncomfortable, but rather a discussion that was awaiting the proper moment.

Somehow, it seemed as if there were a lot of things that were like that, merely waiting for when the two of them got around to talking about them. Perhaps a proper time for some of those discussions would be next Hogsmeade weekend; they could stop by the Three Broomsticks before going on a nice long walk around town, talk about all sorts of stuff...

Suddenly, a loud voice interrupted her thoughts as Mary shouted from what sounded like the Common Room, "Lily, are you quite finished yet? Because there's a wild Slytherin lurking at the Portrait-hole, waiting for you!"

Lily nodded, about to call back that she was finished, when Mary's voice suddenly called up again, "Hey, Lily, James says he'd like to have a word with you, if that's alright!"

"James? What's he want?" Lily whispered to herself, blinking in surprise before calling down, "Uh, alright, I'll be there in a second!"

When she arrived downstairs, most of her fellow Gryffindors had already left, with the exception of James and Mary. It was a beautiful day outside, thanks to the much-welcome Spring weather, warm enough to not need to bundle up, yet with a nice breeze that would play across the face. If she hadn't had a funeral to go to, she'd probably be enjoying it as well.

Upon seeing Lily, James walked over to her, giving Mary a pointed look before turning back to Lily with a surprisingly-solemn expression on his face. As Mary left the room, muttering that she'd let Snape know that she'd be a minute or two longer, James said quietly, tapping his fingers together, "I heard about your dad. Took me a while to figure it out, why you were cutting classes, but then I asked Sabrina and well..."

"Oh..." Lily nodded, staring at the young man fidgetting before her, noticing that he was wearing a pair of maroon dress-robes. Not knowing what to say, she settled for saying nothing, waiting for her fellow Gryffindor to speak.

Obliging her, James spoke in serious tones, "I'd like to come to the funeral with you, if that's alright."

"Oh?" Lily blinked, surprised at the offer. She thought about it for a moment, before shaking her head. "James, I know you weren't invited, so you're not going to get your schoolwork waived for the week. Besides, you've never met my father in your life, so why would you want to come?"

"Isn't the fact that he's your dad enough?" asked James with an angry look, shaking his head as if he might shake off a pestering fly. "And I know that I won't get any breaks on classes or such, I just want to be there to support you. Isn't that enough?"

A smile found its way onto Lily's lips as she considered his words. She had to admit that she was touched by the offer, however... a frown replaced the smile, and she sighed. "James, Severus is coming to the funeral with me too, and I don't want to have the whole time spent with the two of you trying to find new and creative ways of calling each other scum, so I'm afraid that the answer's 'no'."

James seemed to think this over, a dark look settling onto his face as his eyes darkened. Finally, he said in a low growl, "Listen, I'll promise not to do or say anything to provoke Snape, just make sure that he does the same. Alright?"

Lily gave him a scrutinizing stare, noting the determination in his eyes, before finally giving a slow nod. "Alright, you can come, but no acting like a toerag, alright?"

"Promise."

Even though she could hear sincerity in James' voice, Lily couldn't help but get a nasty feelling in the pit of her stomach at the thought of how Severus was going to take this...

Surprisingly enough, Severus' reaction had been far better than Lily had expected. He had listened to her explanation, then after a long silence, muttered that he'd promise the same thing as Potter.

It was clear that he still was far from pleased.

The headmaster had permitted them to use the Hogwarts Floo to travel to her house, offering James a nod of approval as he mentioned that he was well aware of the lack of a benefit to him personally, something for which Severus ground his teeth but said nothing. As such, the trip had been nearly-instantaneous, although Lily had needed to keep from throwing up as she arrived at Severus' home in Spinner's End, crumpled in a heap on the ground.

"Well, nice place you have here, Snape," said James cordially, although the look of distaste as he surveyed the furnishings gave away the lie. It was hard to blame him, as the cramped domain and lack of lighting strongly reminded Lily of a prison cell.

Severus merely nodded, giving James a cold glower before turning to Lily and asking gruffly, not too bad-looking in his Muggle suit, "Shall we get going? We're a bit early, but it's probably best if we don't take any chances." Apparently noticing that she was having a difficult time standing, his tone changed as he offered her a hand, "Are you alright, Lily?"

Lily struggled to hold herself up by using one of the threadbare armchairs nearby, ignoring the offered appendage, nodding with determination even as her stomach tried to do flips. "Yeah, let's get going. I'll be fine."

"I think not," replied Severus coolly, although the worried look in his eyes gave him away. "We have a few minutes, plenty of time for you to catch your breath. Let me get you something to steady your nerves...tea perhaps?"

"Yeah, what he said," said James, chiming in reluctantly. He gave Severus another glower, before offering Lily a hand. "Come on, I'll hold you up."

"Listen, I'm fine!" retorted Lily, nonetheless grabbing James' hand for support as she tried to stand. "We don't need...don't need...Bleagh!"

Unfortunately, her words were belied by how she threw up upon James, the contents of her breakfast covering his dress-robes.

"Oh, Merlin, that's gross!" shouted the boy in disgust, letting go of her hand as he tried to clean his front of half-digested rashers and eggs, needing to use no less than three different spells before the disgusting mess was gone.

Meanwhile, Severus pulled her over to a nearby couch, laying her down as she stared mutely at her feet, embarrassed. Clearing his throat with a cough, he spoke in calming tones, "Alright, I'm going to see if I can find a Potion or something to take the edge off of whatever's bothering you, Lily. Potter..." He stared at the boy suspiciously, his lips nonetheless twitching as he saw the remaining dampness of the glaring Gryffindor's robes. Finally, he said with a reluctant sigh, "Just don't touch anything."

"No way I'm doing that," muttered James, as Severus slipped up the creaky, old staircase to the second floor, Lily's eyes following him until he was out of sight.

Soon, the sounds of rummaging could be heard coming from upstairs, during which James breathed a relieved sigh. Turning to Lily, he then said with a grin, sitting on the rubbishy table next to where she laid, "Well, I'd guess that this means that you have an excuse to get out of class. Shame that we're not at Hogwarts, eh? You could skip Transfiguration for sure!" He waggled his eyebrows, his brown eyes dancing as he spoke.

Lily couldn't help but giggle at the boy's antics, in spite of the situation. Smirking, she retorted with a grin of her own, "If only...maybe I'd actually get an 'E' for the class! I think that McGonagall has it in for me, personally..."

"No way!" James laughed, slapping his knee as he teased her, "McGonagall's always been crazy about you. You're practically a shoe-in for getting Head Girl in her eyes, and her favorite student besides! No way she'd let you do poorly in Transfiguration! Even if she did..." James pointed at himself as he spoke in confident tones, "...I'd be happy to tutor you in it; it's my best subject, bar none!"

Lily considered his offer carefully, as he didn't seem to be joking. Finally, she said, "Well, maybe I'll take you up on it. I'll think about it."

"Make sure that you do," replied James in a winning voice, causing a return of the same butterflies that had plagued her ever since the holidays.

The stairs creaked, alerting them all to Severus' return as he rushed down them, his arms gently cradling a single, un-stoppered vial of pale-blue liquid. Giving James a distrustful look, he strode to Lily's sigh, helping her to sit up with his left arm while he presented the potion to her with his right. His arm warm as it wrapped itself carefully around her, he said in clipped, clinical tones, "I was unable to find the potion I would have preferred to use, but this one should do a decent enough job with a minimum of side-effects. Now, drink it slowly, the taste is quite disagreeable."

Lily nodded, holding the vial to her lips and forced herself to swallow it all in one gulp. Almost immediately, she gagged in disgust, barely able to keep from hacking it up as she coughed out, "Sev...Severus, that was...urgh! What did you make it from? That tastes worse than...than a pile of dung, eaten by flies, thrown up in disgust, then irradiated! I'd rather taste month-old roadkill!"

Severus nodded ruefully, both his hands now rubbing her shoulders, an action that somehow seemed to help with the queasiness. "I believe that my mother made that for when I caught Dragon Pox... After tasting that, I think I would have preferred dying by Pox. It works on most diseases though, luckily, although-"

James interrupted with a cough from where he sat, glaring up at Severus. "As interesting a story as that is, can we get going, Snape? I don't want to stay around here any longer than I have to."

Severus' eyes flicked toward James in annoyance before returning to settle upon Lily's face. "Unfortunately, Lily, we're going to have to wait a bit until it works its way through your system. It shouldn't be more than thirty minutes, luckily." He seemed to consider this, continuing to rub her shoulders as he did so. "However, a cup of tea would probably help. Let me just pop over to the kitchen and I'll make us all some-"

"Not likely, Snape," replied James with a dark look, getting to his feet with a hand on his wand. "I don't know about Lily, but I'm not letting you make me so much as an ice chip. For all we know, you've got some sort of Dark Potion in the kitchen, ready to use on me, or Lily." He shook his head in disgust. "I'll make the bloody tea if she needs it, but you don't touch anything! And get your hands off her!"

As James stomped off to the kitchen, Severus removed his hands from Lily's shoulder, causing her to let out a small sigh. They had been quite nice there... He then spoke in a dry tone, "I wonder if he even knows how to make tea, the paranoid twit."

Lily shrugged, not particularly caring, instead laying back down on the couch. Looking up into Severus' eyes, she smiled fondly. "I'm very impressed with you by the way, both of you."

Severus blinked, staring at her in puzzlement. "Lily...I don't want you take this the wrong way, but are you feeling alright? Because I'm quite certain that you're speaking nonsense."

Lily noticed that one of his hands laid beside her and grabbed it in both of hers. "I mean for how you're not trying to hex each other right about now. I'm especially proud of you, Severus. It must have taken a lot to allow him into your home, especially considering how he's been hexing you so long for no real reason." At Severus' incredulous look, she continued with a chuckle, "James promised me he'd leave you alone, show how it was your fault for all of it...but if it was your fault, wouldn't Remus be taking a bunch of points from you? He is a Prefect, after all..."

Severus sat silently, not even seeming to notice where his hand was. Meanwhile, Lily could hear James grumbling from all the way in the kitchen, he was so loud. She fought the urge to laugh. James was...well, he was a man's man she supposed, confident, masculine, and strong. He didn't have much ability in the kitchen though.

Lily then whispered, "I'm so glad that the two of you aren't fighting today; my dad would have been so proud..." She then paused, biting her lip. "Perhaps we could celebrate by going to Hogsmeade next weekend that rolls around? Just the two of us?"

Severus gave a smile, but it quickly faded into a frown as he seemed to stare into space, his hand withdrawing from her grasp.

After several moments of apparent struggle, emotions flickering across his face like leaves in a storm, he sighed and looked at her guiltily. "It wasn't always his fault... Most times it was, but there were times that I hexed first, before they had even cast a spell, like that fight you stopped back in...November, was it? I was the one who started it. Pettigrew was trying to provoke me, but I was the one who turned it into a fight..."

"Oh..." Lily looked at Severus, noticing how he was biting his lip as he waited for her response. A smile creeping over her face, she sat up and hugged him, causing him to stare right into her eyes. "Severus...thank you. I mean, I'm a bit disappointed to be sure, but still very proud."

Severus seemed nonplused as he started, nearly knocking her over as he turned toward her. "But...but I just said that it was my-"

"-Yes you did, Severus, you told me when you didn't have to. That's what makes it...special." Lily hugged him tightly, her words seeming as if they came straight from the heart. "Thank you very much...my dad told me once that that sort of thing is very important, taking responsibility when you don't have to do it. If he were here now..." Lily couldn't finish the sentence, overcome with emotion.

Severus seemed to realize this, as he broke the tension with a dryly spoken, "He'd say that I'm being an overly-honest twit and I am wretched at keeping secrets, especially after what happened on Wednesday."

Lily laughed, but quickly sobered up as she was reminded about what had happened on Wednesday. Realizing her position as the tension returned, albeit of a different variety, she let go of Severus, her hands hanging limply in the air. "About that..."

However, Severus interrupted quickly, his face flushed as he bowed his head, covering his eyes with his low-hanging hair, "It's nothing to be concerned with, as it's not something that either of us would care to repeat, I'm sure. As such, for both of our sakes, let's call it a bit too much comforting and concern, alright?"

"Alright."

To tell the truth, Lily felt a bit...let down by Severus' answer. Oh well, it wasn't like it would destroy her or anything, it had been just a bit of...curiosity, she supposed. He probably would have made a fine date. Sighing dismally, she changed the subject, waving a hand toward the kitchen where a muffled swearing could be heard, "My dad never did care much for tea, said that the Americans had it right with coffee...and beer."

Severus nodded thoughtfully, sitting up beside her, their shoulders touching. "No disrespect, Lily, but I still think that he was a bit nutter for his love of the stuff. Then again, he did have some strange tastes in...dietary matters. I still don't understand why he liked rashers so much. I used to think he was addicted to the stuff."

Lily giggled at that, even as tears filled her eyes at the thought of the portly man scarfing down his rashers, never seeming to have had enough until it was all gone. Wiping her eyes, knowing that her make-up was probably a lost cause, she poked the young man alongside her. "Hey! I'll have you know that rashers are one of nature's miracles, perfect for Muggles and Wizardkind alike!"

Severus smirked at her, saying slyly, "And who could possibly forget the greatest lover of all things rasher-y, Lily Evans? Your mother might have left you your hair, but apparently there's some of your father in you! Or maybe a bit more than some..." He made a show of looking her up and down, his tones underlaid with false gravity as he spoke, "Are you gotten pregnant, or have you merely gained weight?" He paused again. "A lot of weight."

"Hey, you're no looker yourself, Mr. Snape!" retorted Lily with a grin. "I'll have you know that my stomach is in great shape, perfectly taut. Now your wrinkly skin on the other hand..."

By the time James returned with the tea, his fingers burnt, the twosome were happily talking about the most trivial of things (such as her father's odd tendancy to butter the right side of his toast, 'And only the right side!'), tears of sadness and joy running down their cheeks (well, mostly hers).

As Severus replied in dry, sarcastic tones ('And yet, I'm sure that the left side felt quite alright with that...'), James Potter shook his head in disgust.

Between the tears blurring her vision and the fact that she was staring into Severus' eyes, Lily barely even noticed his presence.

By the time they had finished the tea, the funeral had already started. It was a fairly-large, formal affair of the type that both her mother and Petunia loved. Although Petunia's distaste for Severus was clear, this time it was James that caused her to shriek in horror.

Dress-robes weren't quite an appropriate attire for a Muggle funeral, after all.

Still, after he quickly transfigured his clothing, everything went off without a hitch, although part of Lily couldn't help but feel that the funeral was a bit...cold. She wouldn't have been surprised if half of the people there barely knew her father, so many had been invited. James' presence was a surprisingly-welcome one, as he cracked several jokes throughout the ceremony, causing both Petunia and Severus to look at him with horror each time he did so.

Lily didn't mind, as she was certain that her father would have enjoyed them, especially the one about Petunia's date, Vernon Dursley and his mustache ('Does the man have a mustache, or does the mustache have a man? That I ask you!').

However, it was the end of the funeral which proved memorable, when James had drawn her away from the crowd, something clearly on his mind...

James stood beside her in the small graveyard where her father laid, off of Spinner's End. It was beautiful right then, not a cloud in the sky and the breeze gently caressing her hair; Richard Evans would have loved it. Abruptly, he then spoke, a frown on his face. "I wish Sirius were here, you know? He'd have some good jokes to liven up the ceremony, make it something...more reflecting the sort of man I bet your father was."

"Really? Why do you say that?" asked Lily, curiosity overcoming her.

James grinned, chuckling as he said, "You see, I was listening to you and Snape...in case he tried to pull something and all. The way you guys were talking...I'll bet he was a really fun-loving guy, like me!"

"Well, I don't think he would have been much for eaves-dropping..." said Lily reproachfully, frowning at the suddenly-embarrassed young man. Her face softened a bit though as she spoke, a bit of warmth filling her chest, "He did have a nice sense of humor though..."

"Yeah..." James frowned again, his face seemingly screwed up in thought. Lily wondered what he was thinking abou-

"Would you like to come with me on a tour of Europe this summer?"

Lily blinked, her mouth open in surprise. "Uh...excuse me?"

James shrugged nonchalantly. "Sirius and I were going to go on a big tour of both Muggle and Wizarding Europe...and I was wondering if you'd like to come along, see the sights. You know..." He seemed to notice her eyes popping out of her skull and grinned. "Oh, don't worry, it'd be for about a month, plenty of time to get your studies done when your back and such. My dad's paying for it, so you don't have to worry about money. Come on, what do you say?"

Lily stared at him in utter disbelief. Taking a deep breath, she barely managed to keep herself from shouting as she retorted, "James Potter, I barely know you at all, so why the heck do you think I'd be going on you for a tour of bloody Europe! Merlin, it's barely been a few weeks since I said that I'd give you a chance! Are you mental?"

James smirked, laying a hand on her shoulder as he ran the other through his hair. "Well, I thought that after we become good buddies with the tutoring sessions, you'd surely want to date me, so I'm letting you know of your option ahead of time."

Lily could only shake her head, her voice weak as she said, "You are insane, do you know that? Completely, utterly insane."

James laughed heartily as he said cheerily, "Good to know. I'll keep that in mind! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to use the loo." With that, he strode off whistling, leaving Lily dumbstruck.

What in the world was going on this year?