FIC: His Other Best Friend (PG-13)

[iulia_linnea]

Title: His Other Best Friend
Type: Fic
Age-Range Category: Two
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Severus Snape, Lily Evans, OC
Author: debjunk
Beta(s): Amortentia in my Veins
Rating: PG-13
Click to View [Warning(s)]Angst and mild Lily bashing.
Note(s): Many thanks to this fest, where we can celebrate our favorite Slytherin. Thanks to my beta as well.
Summary: Lily has devastated Severus. Can his Slytherin friend, Diana, help him pick up the pieces?



Severus sprinkled the Alihotsy leaves over the cauldron and stirred the potion. He and his fellow fifth-year Potions class students were brewing an Invigorating Draught. He stirred his own brew counterclockwise now. As he thought about the draught, he wondered if he minced the scurvy grass instead of cutting it whether it would improve the potion at all. Once he was finished stirring, he quickly minced the grass and added it to the potion. The brew turned a deep orange. He glanced over at his partner, Diana. Her draught was orange too, but not quite as deep.

Professor Slughorn wandered up at that moment.

"Ah, Mister Snape… let me see."

He leaned over the cauldron and gave it a stir with Severus' stirrer. He extracted a small spoon from his pocket and took a spoonful of the potion, letting it fall back into the cauldron.

"Perfect consistency, Mr. Snape."

Digging his spoon back into the cauldron, he lifted a spoonful to his nose and smelled it.

"Smells right."

He took a sip and clacked his tongue on the roof of his mouth a couple times. His eyes grew wide.

"Why, Mr. Snape, I believe that is the best invigorating draught I've ever seen from a student. Maybe from even myself. It worked faster, and I feel its effects are more potent. Excellent job. That's definitely an 'O' today for your work."

Several students glared at Severus, but he ignored them. Nodding to Slughorn as the man moved off, he picked up his quill and scribbled a note into his book about the scurvy grass. Diana looked over at him. Her blue eyes danced with mirth.

"Found a better way to brew another potion, eh, Severus?"

Severus' cheeks turned slightly red as he nodded.

"Well, good show. Sluggie always has to flaunt your prowess, doesn't he?" she asked.

Severus shrugged. "I wish he wouldn't."

Diana squeezed his shoulder. "He means well. I don't think it occurs to him that some of the class is jealous of your abilities."

"Everyone but you and Lily are jealous."

"Well, at least there are two of us who aren't!" she said with a laugh.

Severus smirked at her as he bottled his potion.

"Are you studying after class?"

"Lily and I are getting together in the library. Do you want to come?"

Diana thought about it as she tilted her head. Her blonde hair fell in front of her face, and she brushed it away in annoyance.

"I think I'll skip today. I wanted to go over Arithmancy. The new formulas weren't making sense to me."

Severus nodded. Diana didn't join them very often. It may have been because Lily ignored her most of the time when she did.

His friend put her potion in her vial and held her hand out for Severus'. He smiled at her and handed it to her.

"Thanks," he said as she took it and headed to the front of the class.

He watched her as she placed their labeled potions in the carrier in front of Slughorn and thought about his friendship with her. Diana and he had sat next to each other in the Great Hall after being sorted by the Sorting hat and had become friends right off. Next to Lily, Diana was his next-best friend.

He smirked to himself thinking how much Hufflepuff was in the girl. She was a loyal friend and seemed to not be as ruthless as her fellow Slytherins. She went out of her way to make the new first-years feel comfortable, and once you were her friend, you were always her friend. She put those friendships before her desire to get ahead.

Diana had returned by now and packed up her things. Severus had already done so.

"I'll see you at dinner, then," Diana said.

He nodded and went over to Lily. Lily gave him a small smile as she looked around somewhat nervously. She'd been doing that recently whenever he came up to her in a crowd. He had been ignoring it.

"Shall we?" he asked her.

With another glance around, she nodded. They left the classroom and headed toward the library.

"How did your potion come out?" Severus asked her.

"I think it was fine. Slughorn seemed to be happy with yours."

Severus smirked. "He did. It's like he makes a beeline for me whenever I finish something so he can strut around like a peacock."

Lily giggled. They moved on, chatting together quietly. Heading into the library, they found some empty tables towards the back of the room. Lily rushed to the farthest one from everyone. Severus didn't mind. He wanted quiet so they could concentrate.

They settled in and were soon poring over their books and notes. They discussed the potions they had worked on for the last couple weeks. After a while they became quiet as they worked on their own items. Lily glanced up at Severus a couple times before looking directly at him.

"Sev?"

Severus looked up at her. "Hmm?"

"The year's almost over."

"True."

"I think… This summer is going to be very busy for me. I'm not sure how much time we'll be able to have to hang out together."

Severus' face fell. "I thought we were going to explore the river. What about sneaking into the plant?"

Lily's face clouded. "Sev… I don't want to break into the plant. I don't even know where you got that idea!"

"We were talking last month! You said you'd never been inside it, and I said it would be fun to go in late at night and explore it. You agreed that it would be fun."

"Yeah, but, Sev, I was just going along. I'm not a burglar."

Severus' eyes narrowed. "I'm not a burglar either. There's a big difference between sneaking in and taking stuff."

"I'm surprised you remember that," she said snottily.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Lily slammed her book shut and looked at him caustically. "I heard what you did with Mulciber. Sneaking in to steal potions ingredients… that's wrong, Severus!"

"I… that's not what happened!"

"Then what happened? I heard you were getting ingredients to brew truth serum. Why would you need that?"

Severus felt himself getting angry. "That's not what happened!"

"Well, that's what I heard," Lily said smugly.

"And of course, gossip is more reliable than my word," Severus said bitterly.

"You know you always get up to no good when you hang out with Mulciber and Avery!"

"I do not! We're usually just trying to have some fun."

Lily harrumphed. "What you do with them is foul, Sev. They're foul."

"Well, you hang out with Potter. He's foul too!"

Lily stood up, enraged. "I do not hang around with James!"

"Oh, it's James now, is it?"

"Yes, he's a member of my house, I can call him by his name!"

"You used to call him a toe-rag."

"Sev!" Lily said in exasperation. "You're impossible!"

With that she grabbed her things and stormed off. Severus looked at her in annoyance as she walked away from him, but soon enough his face had fallen, and he looked miserable. He slowly put his books away in his bag, dejectedly left the library, and went down to his room in the dungeons.

"Severus!" Diana cried as she rushed into the dungeons.

She threw herself down on the couch and grabbed his hand. He'd been reading his Ancient Runes text and her hand surrounded his as it held the book. He looked at her with a smirk.

"My, you're quite enthusiastic, aren't you?"

Diana giggled. "You'll never guess what I found," she said to him in a slightly quieter voice.

He arched an eyebrow at her.

"Better yet, I'll show you."

Diana jumped up from the sofa and grabbed Severus' hand again, pulling at him to stand up.

"Wait a minute," he said testily, but got up shortly afterward.

He scowled at her, but she grinned at him. "Just wait 'til you see, Severus."

Her enthusiasm was so catchy that he couldn't help his smirk. "Well, let's go, then, I guess."

She grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her as they left the dungeons and climbed the stairs to the third floor. Diana excitedly explained what she'd found.

"A couple times I've heard some seventh-years talking about a secret passage to Hogsmeade. I searched the entire floor looking for possible places where a passageway could be hidden. You should have seen me trying to find it. I tapped almost everything chanting that Dissendium incantation."

"I take it you found it?" Severus interrupted her. He knew if he didn't, her excitement would cause her to go on for another ten minutes.

"Yes!" she cried as she pulled her arms up and shook them in excitement. "Come on!"

She increased her speed and Severus almost had to run to keep up with her. Before they knew it, they were standing in front of the statue of Gunhilda of Gorsemoor.

"It's here?" he asked.

Diana nodded. She tapped the statue with her wand.

"Dissendium," she said.

The great hump on the statue's back slid aside with a scraping sound. Severus and Diana went around to the back of the statue and peered into the hole. There appeared to be a slide that led into the darkness.

"Where does it come out?" Severus asked.

Diana shrugged. "I don't know. When the statue broke in half, I was so excited I came to get you so we could explore it."

"You say it goes to Hogsmeade?"

"That's what Bradley Dunne was saying earlier."

"It must be really long if it goes all the way there."

"True. It'll probably take a while to go through."

"Well," Severus said with a smirk. "I don't have anything else to do except study for O.W.L.s."

"Me neither, let's go!"

Before Severus could say anything more, Diana had dived onto the slide and disappeared. He frowned and lit the tip of his wand before doing the same. The slide wasn't super long, but it took a little time to get to the ground. Ahead of them was a tunnel large enough to walk through. They set out, Severus next to Diana.

At first, they were both silent, the wonder of something new and mysterious keeping them both quiet. After a while, though, they began to chatter to one another.

"How long do you think it'll take to get there?" Severus asked.

"We've already been walking for a while," Diana said. "Hopefully, we'll get there soon."

They walked on, discussing classes. Severus got quiet after a while.

"What is it?" Diana asked.

Severus pouted. "Lily and I had another row."

Diana rolled her eyes. "Now what did she accuse you of."

"She heard about Mulciber and me sneaking into Slughorn's stores. According to her we were going to brew truth serum."

Diana snorted. "She actually believed that? Why would you need truth serum? That makes no sense at all."

Severus shrugged as he looked grumpily to the floor as they walked. "She believes whatever her Gryffindor friends tell her."

Diana hung her head. "I'm sorry, Severus. This is my fault. If I hadn't asked you to get me some Sleeping Draught none of this would have happened."

Severus gave her a caustic look. "You are not to blame. You know the rumor mill around here. We were clumsy enough to get caught by a Gryffindor Prefect, and a Slytherin is never doing something for altruistic reasons."

Diana put her hand on his shoulder. "I appreciate you getting it for me. After a week of sleepless nights, it was a life saver. You were clever Disillusioning it, so it wasn't seen."

Severus shrugged his shoulders. "It seemed like the best way once we were caught."

Diana got close to him and grinned. "So very Slytherin of you."

"Diana!" he ground out in annoyance.

At that point they reached an impassable wall. They looked around and saw a trap door above their heads. Diana found a small stone and transformed it into a step ladder. Severus climbed up and peeked through the trap door, pushing his wand through to see where they'd ended up. He saw a large room with boxes and boxes piled in it. His eyes grew wide as he saw the writing on the boxes and realized where they were. He carefully closed the trap door and looked down at Diana.

"It's the cellar at Honeydukes!" he said in an excited whisper.

Diana gaped at him. "They're closed now, right?"

Severus nodded.

"Well, let's go!"

They burst through the trap door and walked through the cellar coming to stairs that obviously led up to the candy shop. Looking at each other, they both nodded. Diana went first, closely followed by Severus. Despite the store being closed, they were careful not to make any noise. They quickly emerged in the candy shop.

Diana pulled some Knuts out of her pocket and counted them. She looked up at Severus.

"I have enough for two sugar quills and a chocolate frog."

Severus' eyebrows narrowed. "But if we leave the money, someone will know we were in here and they'll ask… questions."

"Hmm, you're right of course." She looked around.

She moved over to the cash register. "I know. We can put the money underneath the cash register like it got pushed under it? That way they'll eventually find the money and think it just got lost there."

Severus came up to her and eyed the register. It sat about two centimeters above the counter supported by four small legs. He looked over at Diana and smiled.

"Let's do it."

Diana put the change on the counter and stuffed it under the register near the part of the counter where the customers came to pay. They nodded at each other and turned from the counter.

Severus went over and plucked two Sugar Quills out of a basket and handed one to Diana. She quickly unwrapped it, stuffing the paper into her pocket. She popped hers into her mouth just as Severus did, and they both grinned around the quills.

They went around the store to where the chocolate frogs were. Diana waved her hand over the basket.

Which shall I choose?" she asked.

Severus shrugged.

She waved her hand some more and closed her eyes. Severus snorted.

"You're not a Seer, Diana."

Diana opened her eyes and gave him a saucy smile. "How do you know? Maybe I've been hiding my talent from you."

"Just pick one," Severus said in exasperation.

She chose one and ripped the box open. Severus was ready and grabbed the frog mid jump, surrounding it with his hands. He deftly tore the chocolate frog in half and handed one part to Diana. Looking at her, he tried to see what card they'd gotten.

"Salazar Slytherin! He's hard to find!" cried Severus. He looked at Diana with big eyes. "Maybe you are a Seer!"

Diana made a face at him. "Very funny."

After a good laugh together, they decided it was time to go and slinked back to the stairs, creeping back down to the cellar. They descended back into the passage and made their way back through the long tunnel to Hogwarts, grinning and laughing all the way.

Darkness… that's all he deserved.

He'd tried to apologize to Lily. She'd ignored him. After sitting outside the Gryffindor Common Room door most of the night, she'd finally come out to berate him.

He was numb now.

After her dressing-down, he'd descended the stairs all the way to the dungeons and wandered through the halls until he'd found the most obscure corridor down there. He'd moved to the end of the hall and sat huddled in the corner.

Surrounded by obscurity, he let his head fall back against the wall as he stared into the black. His face was expressionless for a while until a single tear fell down his left cheek. He furiously rubbed it away, sneering at his weakness.

Damn those Marauders. They'd ruined everything. He'd lost his best friend… the girl he wanted to be with forever. His face crumpled in grief and he buried it in his hands.

There had to be something he could do to make her see how sorry he was. There just had to be. What would he do without her? How could he function without her there for him?

He lifted his head and blinked into the darkness, feeling absolutely worthless. This was where he belonged. He didn't deserve to be in the light. The light was for people who were good. People better than him. He was a waste. Not worth anything, really. Everyone thought so. That's why his parents hated him. That was why the foul git Marauders wouldn't leave him alone. And now, that was why Lily Evans would never speak with him again.

There was no more light for him. He'd destroyed it with one word.

Severus hurried after Lily once Potions class was over.

"Lily, wait," he called to her.

She kept walking.

He pushed past several students and hurried to her side.

"Please," he said as he came even with her.

She increased her speed and moved in front of him again.

"Lily, I'm sorry. I was… they had…"

Lily stopped and wheeled around, a look of fury on her face.

"We already had this discussion, Sev. I told you I'm done with you."

"Please, give me a chance to make it up to you. You know normally I would never…"

"Stop! What you said is unforgivable! Just… just leave me alone!"

She turned from him then and stalked off, her back ramrod straight as she moved away from him. He stared at her back with a wistful look on his face. He just stood there as a myriad of feelings went through his mind. It had been two weeks, and she hadn't looked at him or spoken to him at all. He had tried to talk to her on several occasions, but she had snubbed him every time.

He stood alone in the hallway as students passed on both sides of him, making their way to their next class. He watched her disappear from his life as she turned the corner down the hall. He just stood there. He couldn't move.

Suddenly, a hand grasped his shoulder. As he felt the hand, he realized he hadn't taken a breath since Lily had stalked away from him. Breathing in, he slowly turned to see who had touched him. Diana stood there with a concerned look on her face.

"Come on, Severus," she said sympathetically. "Let's go."

She tugged at his arm, pulling him in the opposite direction of the way Lily went. Severus looked back to where Lily had disappeared and held his gaze there as he was pulled away. Finally, he turned in the other direction, looking to the ground as he was led away.

Diana took him the long way around back to the stairs leading up to the Entrance Hall. She led him outside, and they moved to an area of the lawn where no one was sitting. She gently pushed him down to sit and joined him on the grass. It was then he looked up curiously, as if he'd just awakened.

"We should be in History of Magic," he muttered.

Diana waved her hand at him in a dismissive manner.

"We won't miss anything if we skip. How many times can you learn about the Goblin wars?"

Severus nodded and looked to the ground.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked tentatively.

He shook his head.

"It might make you feel a little better," she urged.

He shook his head again.

"Okay," she said.

Taking his hand, she just held it and looked out over the lake as Severus gazed at the ground, not saying a word.

He tried to apologize five more times before he simply gave up. Lily wouldn't even look at him when he spoke to her. She'd huff at him and stalk off. Finally, he admitted to himself that it was a lost cause, and she would never, ever forgive him for his name-calling.

Now he sat on the Hogwarts Express heading back to his home. Diana sat next to him, but he was ignoring her. He was thinking of the summer to come. Usually, he would spend a lot of time with Lily, but that would not happen this summer. He would need to find another way to escape from his horrid homelife.

As if Diana had read his thoughts, she spoke.

"Hey," she said, causing him to turn and look at her.

"Maybe you can come spend some time with me for a little bit. It's probably pretty boring in Cokeworth… and bloody hot. I'll talk to my parents and see if they're okay with you coming."

Severus looked at her. He processed what she said and felt a slight bit of hope for his summer. He nodded and turned back to the window to silently watch the scenery go by.

"Severus?" Diana called back to him.

He turned to her again.

"It'll be okay. You'll see."

Severus looked down and frowned.

"You've hardly spoken since Lily cast you off. Please tell me what happened when you spoke to her. It's been weeks. I'm your friend. You can talk to me."

Severus let his hair fall in front of his face but didn't reply.

"Sometimes it helps to talk about it," she coerced.

He didn't say anything, so she decided to do all the talking.

"When Avery told me what happened, I followed Potter for the rest of the week. I sent non-verbal stinging hexes at him whenever there was a crowd so he wouldn't know it was me."

Severus looked up at her then with an arched eyebrow.

"I wish I had strung him upside down and removed his pants and castrated the bastard to boot!" Diana said haughtily.

Severus smirked at that. They were quiet for a while, and Severus returned his gaze to the window. Finally, he spoke.

"I've never been so humiliated in my life," he said softly.

"I'm so sick of those prats strutting around like they own the place," Diana said with a huff. "They should have been expelled for what they did. Someone needs to set them straight."

"Dumbledore will never do anything," Severus replied.

"Well, I don't know if anyone in authority will. They're beloved Gryffindors after all. So, I took matters into my own hands."

Severus whipped his head around to her.

"What did you do?"

"Last night I Disillusioned myself and followed a first-year into their Common Room. I waited until everyone was asleep and then snuck up into their dorm room. I put a present in each of their trunks."

"Do tell," Severus said.

This was the most interest he'd shown in anything since the O.W.L.s.

"I replaced their toiletries with creations of my own. They're transfigured to look just like what they usually use. They're all set to go off at different times, so they won't know that I've replaced all of them until they've suffered most of them."

Severus waited impatiently. "Go on!" he cried.

Diana smiled at him. "It's nice to see you excited about something," she remarked. "Their shampoo will turn their hair green and won't be reversible for a month. The soap won't activate for at least two weeks, but when it does, it will give them itchy hives. Their toothpaste will make all their teeth fall out. …Unfortunately, a Healer will be able to regrow them, but it'll be worth it knowing they will be toothless for a while, and I've heard it's painful to grow them back. That'll activate in about a week. All of them but Pettigrew had aftershave. That'll burn their faces three weeks after they apply it, and I charmed their razors to constantly nick them. They'll probably just change the blade, but hopefully it takes a few good chunks out of their faces before they do."

She gave Severus a smug look. Severus grinned at her. He knew she was his friend, but he didn't realize how far she would go for their friendship.

"Diana… I don't know what to say."

"Well, you don't have to say anything."

"Yes, I do. You went out of your way to get revenge for me. I won't soon forget that."

Diana smiled, and he followed suit.

"I'm glad I was able to make you smile, even for only a little while."

Severus regarded her curiously. She was a good friend. Maybe next year wouldn't be as horrible as he was expecting it to be.

"Thanks, Diana."

"What are friends for?" she said with a laugh.

Severus nodded, but his thoughts went to Lily again with her statement, and he felt the mirth leave him.

Diana looked at him. "She's being a cow, you know," she remarked.

Severus shook his head. "No, I said something terrible to her. I deserve her ire."

"For three weeks? I can see her being mad, definitely. That's probably the worst thing you can call a Muggleborn, Severus. But it's been three weeks! She called herself your friend, but she can't forgive you for a single word when you were under stress?"

"You don't understand."

Diana gave him an incredulous look.

"What's to understand? Avery explained what those creeps did and your reaction. It makes total sense that you would strike out at someone wanting to help. You've never been gracious when embarrassed. She knew that. For Merlin's sake, she's known you longer than I have, and I understood that."

"I deserve everything she said to me… "

"What did she say? You've been mum about it. What did she say to you?"

"She said I call everyone like her that word." He grimaced as he recalled her chewing out. "She wouldn't accept my apology. She said her friends couldn't understand why she even talks to me."
His shoulders sagged, and he looked down, pain reflecting in his face. He looked gutted.

"Bloody tosser," Diana said emphatically. "Her friends-her friends-aren't you supposed to be her friend?"

"She thinks I'm going to be a Death Eater."

"Are you?"

He shrugged.

"Well, you shouldn't be, especially because of her."

He looked up at Diana.

"Like I said before, she's a daft cow. Friends forgive each other. She just wants an excuse to throw you away because you're not like her other shitty friends. They're all a bunch of snobby, bigoted… "

"Diana, don't."

Diana looked at him. Her shoulders sagged, and she looked down into her lap.

"I just hate that she's made you feel this way, Severus. It's not right. You've been best friends since before you even came here. She's just tossing you away because she's found others whose friendships are easier."

"She's not like that."

Diana's head snapped up. "You just can't see it, Severus. She definitely is like that. She walks around like she's the queen around here. She and her friends hate Slytherins, and they're vocal about it, too."

"But she's my friend."

Diana put her hand on his shoulder. "Is she?"

His lips thinned, but he said nothing.

"Seems to me that if she is your friend, she's the worst kind."

"We've been… I was…"

"Please, Severus," she said as she looked at him with sympathy. "Just admit she's a bad friend."

He put his face in his hands. "I can't. I've ruined everything, and she'll never talk to me again, but I can't see her as a bad friend. It's my fault, not hers."

Diana put her arm around Severus. "I'm sorry you lost your friend," she said to him finally.

They sat like that for the rest of the train ride.

Severus and Diana sat on a blanket outside in her back yard. Her house wasn't a mansion like many Slytherins' homes, but it was large and the grounds were extensive. The farthest part was filled with trees making a small forest, and there was a pool near the house. The pair sat a little ways beyond the pool, where it was green and open. It was the perfect place for a picnic.

It was the last day of summer, and they'd be headed back to Hogwarts the next day. The picnic basket sat alongside them, and they had a couple of empty plates and two tall glasses of lemonade in front of them.

"Thanks for letting me stay so long, Diana," Severus said.

"Well, technically, my parents let you stay," Diana said with a smirk.

"Still, I appreciate it. Life at home… well, you know it sucks."

"So, you spent the summer here!" Diana said cheerfully.

"And my parents didn't even seem to care. They were happy to see the backside of me."

"Does it bother you?" Diana asked.

He shrugged. "I'm used to it. It's better if I'm not around. I make Dad angrier. He takes it out more on Mum… and me. One of these days I'm not going to let him."

"Somebody needs to put him in his place," Diana said with a huff.

They both quieted as they stared across the grounds. They'd both found the area was a nice place to sit and think or just wander around. They had done a lot of that this summer, along with taking dips in the pool.

"Are you looking forward to tomorrow?" Severus asked Diana.

She smirked. "Of course! It's our sixth-year! I can't wait to get back to Charms. Professor Flitwick promised to help me with creating a couple of spells to train owls."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "He's going to privately tutor you?"

"Well, not really. Just a couple of lessons."

"That's brilliant! Maybe I can get Slughorn to do that for me with Potions."

Diana looked at him excitedly. "You should! He already drools all over you every time you're in class. Sluggie would probably think it's a good way to wrap you in his net even more."

Severus smirked. "He is rather obvious, isn't he? But still, he has good connections, and he knows his Potions."

"Definitely. You should definitely get him to help you out."

Diana looked at him with her deep blue eyes. "What about Lily?"

Severus looked down. "What about her?"

"Has the summer helped you to be in a better place when it comes to her?"

"Unless she starts talking to me, I will never be in a better place with her."

"I still think she's foul. She hasn't even written you a letter or anything." Diana scowled as she looked away from Severus towards the pool.

"Mr. Snape, a word after class, please?" Professor Slughorn said to him as he swept around the room, checking the students' progress.

"Yes sir," he said.

Diana gave him a curious look, but Severus just shrugged. He really didn't know what Slughorn wanted.

After the students were done and everyone had cleaned up their spaces, Severus approached his teacher's desk.

"Ah, Mr. Snape, are you very busy in the evenings?" Slughorn asked.

"Other than studying, sir, not really."

"I would like someone to help me brew stores for the Infirmary and other items. In reviewing my seventh-year student options, none of them are as advanced as you. Would you be able to come down on Thursdays to help me brew?"

Severus tapped down his excitement and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes sir. I can definitely help you out."

"Good show, my boy. I'll see you at six thirty on Thursday then, right after dinner."

"Yes sir," Severus said as he turned and left the classroom.

He made his way to the Dungeons, his steps light for the first time in a while. They were a month into school, and classes were going fine, but he missed his friend. She refused to talk to him, but he didn't push the issue.

Speak of the devil, there she was. Lily stood ahead of him in the hall talking with Cora Harvey. He debated turning and going the other way, but he refused to run from her. Continuing down the hall, he glanced at the two girls.

Lily's head turned toward him. She frowned, and her eyes narrowed at him. He nodded at her, but she just turned her head, her nose in the air, and she continued speaking with Cora.

Severus' light mood crashed down around him. His stomach felt sour, and he felt the hopelessness he always felt when he'd encounter Lily. She never spoke with him. Never. His shoulders slumped, and he slunk away down the hall and to the stairs which would lead him to the dungeons.

When he got there, he flung himself on the couch facing the fireplace and crossed his arms in front of him. He glared at anyone who looked as if they might join him. No one approached him. He stared into the flames and got lost in them as he thought about Lily.

He missed her so much. He couldn't understand why she wouldn't relent and forgive him. He'd tried and tried to talk to her, but she wouldn't even look at him unless she had to. He'd let her be, but he still secretly tried to catch a glance from her. It was always a scowl.

After sulking for a while, he noticed someone come up and stand next to him. He looked up and saw Diana standing there looking at him with concern.

"Let's take a walk," she said.

Severus slowly rose and followed her out of the room. They climbed the stairs and exited the castle. Diana turned and linked her arm with Severus'.

"Let's get comfortable," she said as she pointed to a spot on the lawn near a tree.

They headed over and settled in, both leaning against the tree but close enough to each other to be able to chat.

"Evidently," she began, "the entire school is talking about us."

"Why?" Severus asked.

"They think we're a couple."

"What?"

Diana smirked. "They noticed we spend all our time together. They think we're having a torrid romance."

"But I don't like you like that!" Severus cried defensively.

"And I don't like you like that either!" Diana said caustically.

"Did you tell them that?"

"Tell who? It's all over the school. Should we take an ad out in The Prophet?"

Severus scowled. Diana pushed into him with her shoulder.

"You know what, we can take advantage of this and have some fun."

He looked at her curiously. "How can we do that?"

"Let's let the rumors run wild! I don't have anybody to impress here. I don't care who everyone thinks I'm seeing. And you… well, Severus, it might be nice to show Lily that life goes on without her royal highness."

Severus arched an eyebrow at her. "But…"

"I know you're still upset, but she doesn't need to know that. You give her more power when you look at her wistfully or even acknowledge her. If she thinks we're involved, either she'll get jealous, or she'll stop thinking she has all the power over you."

"She doesn't think that…. She doesn't want to think about me at all."

Diana huffed. "Right."

"I see her hateful looks whenever I pass by her."

Diana rolled her eyes. "Do you know why she does that?"

"Because she hates me."

Diana shook her head. "No, that's not it at all. She craves the attention. If you react to her nasty looks, then she gets the attention she wants. She doesn't want to be bothered being your friend, but she wants you to pine away after her so she can feel important."

Severus' mouth dropped open, but he said nothing. Finally, he tried to defend his prior friend.

"No, she's not like that."

"Isn't she?"

"I suppose you'll tell me now how she really is like that."

"I always do," Diana said dryly.

Severus rolled his eyes at her. "Go on."

"I know you try not to watch Lily, but you wind up watching her anyway. Have you noticed how she acts around Potter?"

"I look the other way when she's with him."

Diana nodded and reached out to squeeze his hand. "Of course. Well, I have no issues with watching them. She pretends to ignore him, which makes him try to catch her attention. When he does, she sticks her nose up and walks the other way, which just makes Potter want to go after her even harder."

Severus stared at his friend. "How on earth did you figure all that out?"

"I like to watch people. My mother was very adept at reading people. I've always admired that in her. She taught me to pay attention to others. I'm constantly working to better my ability to read everyone around me."

"And that's how you perceive Lily? Does she do the same thing with any of her friends?"

"Somewhat. It's more subtle because she already has them as friends. She just uses words mostly with them. She takes stands and makes it sound like others are dumb to disagree with her."

Severus thought about what Diana said for a minute. "She's done that with me. Quite often, actually. Or she doesn't let me get a word in edgewise. That's what she did when I first apologized to her. I tried to answer her, but she kept on saying why we couldn't be friends anymore and finally walked away, leaving me in the hallway in front of the Fat Lady."

"I told you she's a cow, Severus. You're worth much more than that."

Severus looked away and scowled. He didn't completely agree with Diana, but he knew that arguing with her was a lost cause. He decided to change the subject a little.

"I saw her today after class. She glared at me and looked away like always. I had been in a good mood before that. You won't believe what Slughorn asked of me after class."

Diana sat up straight. "What did he say?"

Severus felt excitement course through him again at the thought of his new opportunity.

"He's asked me to help him brew on Thursday nights!" he said as his eyes grew big. "He said I was better than any seventh-year, so he offered it to me."

Diana threw her arms around Severus. "And he's right! You're the best student in the whole school. That's brilliant!"

She leaned back and pulled her arms from him. "I'm so proud of you, Severus."

He smiled shyly at her.

"See, there's lots to be happy about. Slughorn is smooching up to you, and we are a couple in everyone's eyes…"

"Diana!" Severus ground out.

"Oh, come on, Severus. It'll be funny to let the rumors spread, don't you think?"

"Maybe," he said as he studied her. "The thing is, if everyone thinks we're together… I mean, I don't care about me… but… don't you want a… you know… boyfriend?"

Diana rolled her eyes. "Hardly! The boys here are all just that… boys. And if one of them suddenly becomes interesting and grows a brain, we can talk about that then. Honestly, it'll keep people from approaching me. I've seen Avery looking at me. The guy is a moron. Why would he think I'd want to go out with him?"

Severus chuckled. "All right, all right. I see your point. What do we do to pull this charade off?"

"Pretty much the same thing we've been doing. We spend a lot of time with each other." She thought for a moment. "Let's make sure we walk with each other to classes."

Severus scowled at her. "I supposed you'll want to have nicknames for one another."

Diana looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you hear couples around here? They call each other stupid names like sweetheart, dearie… pumpkin."

He stressed the first part of pumpkin as he sneered. Diana snorted with laughter.

"You're right, we need to do that. What should we call one another?"

Severus and Diana stared at each other a while, trying to find the right moniker for each other. Severus' eyes lit up, and he looked at Diana with a calculating grin.

"I know, I'll call you 'My Treasure.'"

Diana chuckled. She eyed Severus some more and then got an excited look on her face.

"And you'll be my 'Dearest Heart.'"

Severus gaped at her.

"It's perfect, right?" she said as she opened her arms wide emphatically.

"I… guess?" Severus answered, at a loss for words.

"You look upset, Dearest Heart. Don't you like your nickname?"

"It's a little much, don't you think?"

"Of course!" Diana cried. "That's why it's perfect."

"Diana," Severus ground out. "You know I'm not much for being on display. Maybe this is a bad idea."

"And maybe it's the most brilliant idea I've ever had!"

Severus tried to control his laugh, but he couldn't. He threw his head back and guffawed at his friend. She was so dramatic sometimes- the exact opposite of Severus' reticence. He calmed his laugh down and looked at her. Maybe she was right.

Diana moved closer to him so their faces were close to one another once Severus lifted his head up from laughing. He looked at her with mild surprise.

"You need to loosen up, Severus Snape. Laugh at yourself sometimes. It won't kill you."

He arched an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure?"

She slapped his arm. "Of course, I'm sure, you nutter."

He sighed. "I'm not a nutter," he said absently as he thought about what she said.

"Oh, you know what I mean!" Diana said with a flip of her hand. "You have spent the last while torturing yourself. It's time to forgive yourself and have some fun."

Severus looked down. "I don't know how to do that."

"Just play along with me. It'll come. And if it doesn't, we can try something else. Okay, Dearest Heart?"

Severus snorted. "If you say so, My Treasure."

Diana grinned conspiratorially at Severus, who grinned right back.

"There you are," she said. "I like seeing you smile."

His grin grew slightly wider.

It was time for dinner when they returned to the castle. They walked together closely, Diana laughing at something Severus said, and Severus smiling shyly at her. They made their way to the Slytherin table and sat next to one another as they filled their plates and ate their dinner.

"Dearest Heart, can you pass the mash?" Diana asked.

Severus picked up the bowl and handed it to her. "Here you are, My Treasure."

Mulciber looked at them curiously. "You guys are together?" he asked gruffly.

"We've always been friends," Diana said with a shrug before she popped a forkful of mash into her mouth and ate it while staring at Mulciber.

He looked down at his plate and continued shoveling food into his mouth, their conversation forgotten.

After a while, both Severus and Diana were done eating.

"Shall we go to the dungeons so we can study Ancient Runes?" Diana asked Severus.

He nodded. "I want to go up to the Astronomy Tower later so we can work on that essay as well."

"Yeah, let's plan on that."

They rose from the table. Severus noticed Diana glancing over at the Gryffindor table. Suddenly her arm was around his waist. His eyes grew wide, then he relaxed and just went with it. He swung his arm over her shoulder, and they left the Hall. He didn't even look towards the Gryffindor table, afraid of what he'd see. He knew Diana would see and tell anyway.

They moved to the stairs but didn't say anything as they descended. When they finally got into the Dungeons, Diana let go of him. She turned to Severus and grinned evilly.

"Did you see her face? Did you see it?" she cried.

"I was turned the opposite way. I didn't try to look either. I didn't want to see it."

"Oh Severus, you should have peeked. It was… she was… wow."

"Your description is rather lacking in detail, Diana. I have no idea what you're on about."

"She looked like this."

Diana imitated Lily. Her jaw went slack and dropped open and her eyes bugged out. Severus smirked.

"Did she really look like that?"

Diana nodded. Severus' lips thinned. He didn't know what to make of her reaction.

"This is good, Severus. Let her see that your life goes on without her. Maybe it'll get her to rethink her position."

Severus' eyebrows knit together. "What if it doesn't?" he asked balefully.

"Then she's not worth your time, Severus. She never was."

Severus sighed and looked to the ground. Diana reached out and grabbed his arm.

"You deserve better," she said as she squeezed his arm.

He only shrugged.

Two weeks had passed, and Severus and Diana were considered a couple by everyone. The buzz about them had finally calmed down, and they were just another piece of the normal everyday goings-on at Hogwarts that was now ignored. Except for Lily. She stared at them all the time. Severus watched her covertly, and both Diana and he had concluded she was jealous.

"It makes no sense. She hates me," Severus complained to Diana as they sat studying in the Dungeons.

"I told you, she doesn't. The thing is, Severus, before you were just hers. There was no other girl paying attention to you in that way. Even though we were friends, she didn't consider me a threat. Now that it looks like we're dating, she's thinking about what she may be missing because she threw you away."

Severus stared at the ground. That was what she'd done, wasn't it? Thrown him away. A deep sadness filled him at how she'd just cast him away like that. He couldn't understand why she was acting as she was.

He frowned as he finished up the letter he was writing to his mum. Folding it up, he looked at Diana.

"I need to go to the Owlery and send this off. Do you want to come?"

Diana shook her head. She lifted up her Astronomy text. "I need to catch up on the last two lessons."

Severus nodded and rose from his seat. "I'll see you, then."

"Bye!"

Severus left and headed for the Owlery. His mind was filled with questions about Lily. Diana had been pretty adamant that she had been a bad friend, but Severus had been adamant that it was all his fault, and Lily had only been reacting to his awful words to her.

But now he questioned that. As Diana had said, he'd apologized- several times-before he'd given up. But to no avail. It made him feel quite worthless when he dwelled upon it, so he hadn't really spent time thinking about it. He'd been busy playing boyfriend to Diana anyway.

He trudged up the pathway to the tower that held the owlery and frowned as he went. He didn't know what he could do to get Lily's friendship back. She ignored him. He was lost without her, though. He just wanted his friend back.

Severus climbed the stairs and chose an owl to deliver his letter. He attached it to the owl's foot and sent her on her way. Descending the stairs, he came out of the tower and almost slammed into Lily.

"Sorry," he said as he looked away from her and tried to go around her.

"Sev?"

Severus stopped mid stride and froze in his place.

"Sev, can I ask you a question?"

Severus turned to her and looked at her curiously. He nodded finally.

"Why are you going out with that MacHenry girl?"

Severus felt his ire rising within him. He'd wished that she would speak with him for months now. But this? His eyebrows drew close.

"You don't say a word to me for months, and the first thing you say to me is that?" he asked caustically.

"I was curious," Lily replied haughtily.

Suddenly, the need to have Lily Evans talk to him disappeared. He glowered at her.

"What business is it of yours?" he asked her.

She said nothing.

"What do you care who I am seeing?"

"She's… well, she's… horrid!"

Severus stepped closer to Lily. He tampered down his anger despite wanting to tear her head off.

"In what way is she horrid?" he asked crisply, trying to control his tone so she'd answer him.

"Well, she's a Slytherin, isn't that enough?" Lily said as she lifted her head defiantly.

"Did you forget that I, too, am a Slytherin?"

"You're not like them, Sev. She's constantly staring at me. She's up to no good, I can tell."

Everything Diana had been saying about Lily crashed into his mind. Her need to control situations. Her jealousy of him. With Lily's crazed declarations he almost believed Diana's assumptions to be true. His eyes narrowed at her.

"How dare you! You've not spoken more than five words to her this year, and barely have talked to her in the six we've been at school. You know nothing about her. But that's the way you want it, right? That way you can think your bigoted thoughts without any issue. Diana is one of the nicest people I have ever met, including you. How dare you besmirch her when you never even took the time to know her."

Lily stepped back in shock. "Sev, I…"

"No! I don't know who you think you are that you can pass judgement on anyone not Gryffindor, but you've got a lot of nerve."

Lily stuck her nose in the air. "I'm sorry I even talked to you. You're nothing but a Death Eater Wannabe. You deserve each other!"

She turned to storm off, but Severus caught her arm.

"Do you realize how horrid you sound?" he asked incredulously. "I thought we were friends, but now I find out that I was just a means to an end to you. A window to the magical world that once you were a part of, you found it easy to cast me to the wolves. You don't care if I become a Death Eater or not. You just care that I not shadow you everywhere like I used to. What's the matter, Lily? Do I embarrass you?"

Lily just stared at him, her eyes wide.

"There was a time when we were inseparable, but you threw all that away so you could be close to your biased, Gryffindor pack of fools."

He released her arm as if it was poisonous. "Fine," he said. "If that's how much you cherish our friendship, fine. I'm done with you. I'm done feeling badly. I apologized to you a multitude of times, and you couldn't find it in your huge, Gryffindor heart to forgive me. Fine. I hadn't thought of you as a fair-weather friend, but that's evidently all you are. I hope you don't leave your other friends in the lurch the same way."

With that Severus himself turned and stalked off.

"Sev, wait!" Lily cried behind him.

He ignored her and moved faster down the pathway. The unmitigated gall of her. How could she be so callous and vile? More importantly, how had he not seen it before?

He stormed into the castle and down to the dungeons. Entering the Common Room, he quickly found Diana sitting on a couch talking to a fifth-year girl. He threw himself down next to her and crossed his arms in front of him. He glowered at everyone other than Diana and waited for her to finish her conversation. After a few minutes, Diana turned to him.

"What's up?" she asked. "You seem tense."

He turned to her and huffed. She looked at him blankly.

"Take a walk with me," he said tersely.

"O… kay."

Diana got up, and he quickly did as well. They were soon back out in the hall, and he led her to an empty room. He motioned for her to go into it and closed the door behind them. He waved his wand over the door, setting wards so they wouldn't be disturbed.

He paced back and forth in front of her while she looked on curiously.

"What's wrong?" she said finally.

"I just had a run-in with Lily."

He made a quick turn and went the other way.

"Do you know what she said?" he asked her haughtily. "She wanted to know why I was dating you."

Diana's eyes narrowed. Severus turned to her.

"Seven months and the first words she utters are accusatory tripe."

He turned from her and continued to pace.

"Severus, breathe. Stop pacing and take some deep breaths. You're about to explode."

Severus continued to pace. He scowled.

"You were right, Diana. She's everything you said she was."

He felt Diana's hands circling his arms, stopping him from moving.

"Severus… stop."

He did.

"Deep breaths with me. In through your nose, out through your mouth…. That's it."

She continued talking while Severus breathed and calmed himself. After a few minutes she transfigured a desk into a couch and led him to sit on it. She sat next to him and took his hand.

"What did she say?" Diana asked.

Severus looked at his friend. She'd managed to calm him a bit. He felt an affinity for Diana in that moment. She was a true friend. His lips thinned as he thought of his previous best friend.

"She said awful things about you. Then when I called her on it, she accused me of being a Death Eater again."

"Tell me everything," Diana said.

He explained to her what Lily had said and his reactions. Diana smiled at him.

"Thank you for sticking up for me," she said.

"Of course." Severus said.

"Are you okay?" Diana asked.

Severus looked away from her. "I'm angry. What she said was uncalled for. You were right about her."

"Does that upset you?"

He met her eyes. "It upsets me that it took me so long to see what you found obvious."

"Severus, you know I make it a habit of studying people. You were best friends. Of course, you thought the best of her."

Looking down, Severus sighed. "I thought we were friends. I thought she cared for me."

Diana reached out and squeezed his hand.

"I'm sorry, Severus. If it's any consolation, I think she did a while ago."

"I just…"

"I know."

"How could she have changed so much?"

"Well," Diana said. "You've changed, too."

Severus looked up at her. "Yes, but not at the expense of my friends!"

Diana nodded. "Some people are more loyal than others."

"You're loyal."

"Yes, just like you. Maybe we both should have been sorted into Hufflepuff?"

Severus smirked at that. "Can you even imagine?"

Diana shook her head furiously. "No way!"

They both laughed, and Severus felt his anger abate. One thing he did feel within him was that he'd be okay with or without Lily, and he really didn't want to be associated with the person she'd become.

Severus sat with Diana at the leaving feast. Only a few more hours before his sixth-year would be behind him. He was unsure what the future would hold, but he was excited to see it come. He wished he were done here at Hogwarts already, but he still had the last year left.

He looked at Diana, who was speaking with Avery excitedly. Avery laughed, then poked his head around her.

"Hey, Severus. I hear our associate is looking for some help this summer. You game?"

Severus noted the harsh look from Diana. She knew what the cryptic comment meant. Lucius Malfoy was looking for helpers for something to do with Voldemort. He also knew she thought he was too good to get involved with such ilk. The thing was, the people who were involved with Voldemort's vision were the only people other than Diana who actually showed him any respect or friendship. He wasn't sure he fully agreed with the mantra, but the power that would be afforded him and the community he'd become a part of were an attractive enticer.

"Yeah," Severus answered finally. "Send me an owl when you know what's going on."

Avery nodded and turned to talk to Mulciber across the table. Diana glared at Severus, who in turn narrowed his eyes at her.

"I suppose you're going to tell me how dark I am and cast me off as a friend now?" he said caustically.

Diana's look softened. She reached out and squeezed Severus hand.

"You're my best friend, Severus. I would never abandon you like that. You know my position on this. I just feel that it would be a mistake you could possibly regret for the rest of your life. I've heard that once you join him, there's no going back."

Severus' bristling softened as well. He nodded and looked to his plate.

"Severus."

He looked back at her.

"Whatever you choose to do… I know who you are inside, and I will always be here for you, okay?"

Severus gave her a shy grin and nodded.

"Thank you, Diana. I will always be here for you as well."

Diana grinned back and squeezed his hand. She spoke a little louder now.

"That's why I love you, Dear Heart," she said with a grin.

"And I you, My Treasure," Severus replied in a teasing way.

She released his hand and returned to her meal. Severus pondered her response to him about always being there. Shouldn't that have been the way Lily reacted to his choices? Isn't that what a true friend did?

He gazed down at his plate, sorrow filling him again. His eyes ventured up, and he watched Lily talking with her friends. He used to be like them… someone she treated nicely. Someone she wanted to talk to and spend time with. But that was all gone now. As she'd said that terrible night, she had her way, he had his. Maybe he did favor the Slytherins who were Voldemort supporters, but she favored the boys who never let up on hexing and assaulting him. Perhaps it was similar, but he didn't think it was the same at all.

He still missed her. He still wanted her to be his friend. He still wished that she could see him as more than just a friend, but he could now see that she wasn't going to ever see him as he truly was. And he wanted her to see him for who he was, not who she wished he would be. He understood he would never be what she thought he should be. But maybe her standards were too damn high?

His thoughts went to Diana, a girl who could have given him the same reasoning for not being his friend. He knew she didn't like his associates, but she supported him anyway. She remained his friend. He may not have Lily, but he did have Diana, and she was turning out to be more of a loyal friend than Lily had ever been. It was a bittersweet revelation, but he accepted it and was glad for having her. At least someone was on his side.