Chapter 2

He spent half an hour in the water, his thoughts were everywhere and yet nowhere. So much went through his head. Most of it, however, revolved around Lily. For her tender smile that he had just seen. Her green eyes that looked at him so mysteriously and sometimes maliciously. Her red hair that sometimes hung down in light curls on her shoulder. If he started to write about their looks alone, it would have resulted in at least a whole novel. He had fallen so deeply in love with the young woman, but he could barely make a note of her presence. And soon, it was clear to him, he would not be able to see her for two more weeks. Then she would definitely go to her parents' house for the Christmas break and have a nice party. He stayed at Hogwarts out of habit. Sirius couldn't go back home, they had thrown him out of the family and Remus hardly had a real home either, just because fate had chosen him to be a werewolf.His family had never made friends with this fate. And Peter, well, he was always where the other three were. The four of them just belonged together. But James was still missing something very specific.It's all well and good with the guys, but ..."Lily", he sighed softly and dived under the water again. It didn't work anymore. The water was getting cold and the others were sure to miss him at dinner.

"Dude, here you come at last!" Sirius could be heard shouting through the entire hall as James entered. His hair stood out on all sides again, but he grinned broadly. Here and there he threw a charming smile around, then sat down with his friends and picked up the mug.
"Where have you been hanging around again, huh?"
"I was splashing around, what do you think? Have a look outside?", He just sighed softly and took a long sip of the warm drink. "Quidditch is not so big when you are followed by rain showers," added James."We always told you it was a dangerous sport, James," Peter almost feigned again, but preferred to look down at his plate.
"Yeah yeah, I know, but ..." and with that James sat back down properly. "That's it right now. You know, Peter, that thrill is what defines this sport. It's an incredibly brilliant feeling."
"Especially when you go for a swim afterwards and find someone in the bathroom, right?" Sirius 'big hand clapped against James' back, so that he soon threatened to fall forward.
"How ... what ...?" He looked confused at his friend. One look around was enough and he realized that they all knew that he had met Lily. But how did they find out? Who had spoken? Certainly not the young woman, that wouldn't suit her.
"Oh James ... you can't fool us," Remus smirked hypocritically.
"I would have expected something else from you, Remus!"
"Drive down a gear, Krone", Sirius just grinned broadly."She didn't say anything, we just happened to see her come out after you went in. Don't think we didn't wait. Wanted to know how the training was ... but now we're interested in other things"
And all four moved closer to the table, put their heads together and let James explain everything to them, describe Lily as precisely as possible.

But the person in question hadn't shown up for the entire dinner. Just like someone else, rather seedy in the eyes of all other students - Severus Snape. He was an outsider and one of the cherished victims of James and his friends. They made life difficult for the young man with a regular and since she showed interest in Lily, it didn't get any easier for him with the other boys.
But it was precisely with that woman that he was sitting in the library. If you were looking for them, you could always find them there. It was a strange sight of both of them.Some always said they were like Beauty and the Beast. There was a high probability that both of them had already read the library, but there was always something to discover. And Lily seemed particularly interested in one potion at the moment - a Wolfsbane potion.
"Why ... do you need something like that, Lily? I mean ... there are no werewolves here. And if they do, then in the forbidden forest. Why do you want to help them?"
"Oh Severus ..." she waved him off with a smile and leaned back in her chair. She once wasn't wearing the school uniform. She was wearing a tight, wine-red turtleneck, which kept attracting the eyes of the person opposite her.
"Lily ... please tell me"
"You're not giving up anyway, are you?" She grinned thinly and leaned forward again. She rested her elbows on the tabletop and leaned her head on the back of her hand. With her shining eyes she averted the gaze of the classmate so that he could barely wriggle away."I just need this for a good friend, you know. But that's all I can tell you, Severus"
It was literally on her lips when she spoke. For his standards Lily could talk all day and he wouldn't care what topic it was. The main thing was her voice that he heard. Which made his day seem a lot brighter.
"Well, all right. When do you need it? It doesn't take quite as long as the polyjuice potion, it's a bit more complicated, but I should be able to do it," he told her calmly and put his hands on the table. Perhaps also in the hope that he might hold hers one day. Her skin was certainly as soft and delicate as it looked. So far he had only been able to touch her once and that was when he had given her a large book on potions. They were both the best students in the subject, but she was the person singled out best every time, Severus always standing in their shadow.But as long as it was yours, he loved it.
"You don't have to do this alone, Severus, if you explain it to me, I can do it all by myself," she smiled fondly. And Lily meant it the way she said it. She didn't want to impose tasks on anyone that she could best solve on her own. She was a woman of her own, stood on her feet. She came from a completely different world than the one that usually went to this school. She came from a family with absolutely no magic. And since many students knew it, they often wanted to relieve her of the work. However, she refused.
"Very well," Severus managed, just trying to pull away from her green eyes for a moment. It didn't work, so he just kept looking at her. The whole world around them seemed far away. It was always unbelievable for him that it was her, Lily, who dedicated herself to him on such evenings, with whom he could talk without being afraid the whole school would know the next day."When ... and above all, where do we want to meet?" He asked rather shyly as if he wanted to meet her for dinner or something similar.
"On the third floor in the girls' bathroom," Lily just smiled and then got up again. A look at her watch revealed that she should have been at a meeting a long time, but she had simply forgotten the time when she was talking to Severus about the potion for a werewolf. "In two hours, if you please, Severus"
But instead of being able to answer, the young man only nodded vigorously so that his black hair hung over his face. Lily knew that the place wasn't exactly what he liked, even without him having to say it, but it was the only place in the entire castle where nobody showed up and they could brew the potion in peace.
"I'll see you then," she said, waving him briefly goodbye. She held one of the books to her chest again as she left the room.She wore the knee-length pleated skirt of the school uniform, but the sweater made it look very different. It was attractive, especially to Severus' eyes, because he couldn't keep them from her anymore.
He heard something penetrate his ear from the hallway.
"Let go of me, Sirius!" Lily shouted angrily and freed herself from the grip of his hand. "What are you actually imagining?"
"Asked the other way around, what are you thinking? James has been waiting for you at Dumbledore's forever!"
Severus caught these sentences only brokenly. Until his curiosity drove him to get up and carefully stick his head out the door. There they stood, Sirius and Lily. Her head was red with anger, almost the same shade as her hair. And the young man stood across from her with his hands in his pockets and just looked at her contemptuously.
But the next moment he regretted this decision, because the look of one of his worst nightmares was on him."What do you want Snape?"
But when he pulled his head back, it was already too late. He found her halfway up the shelves. He could look down at Black's wand. That they always had to bully him like that. And the worst part for Severus was that it was Lily who was watching. He was embarrassed.
The young man breathed a sigh of relief when he could see the beauty disappear with quick steps across the corridor.
But if she believed that Sirius would have been the crowning glory of the evening, there was someone else who looked at her even more maliciously - James himself. Before they had exchanged glances, talked to each other and made appointments, but now he looked at her judgmental at. But before he could say anything to her, she made her way to the headmaster's office. In addition to her book, she also had a folder under her arm. James immediately dived after her, but just got hold of the hand."Now wait, Lily," he asked her, but fell on deaf ears.
Just as she was about to knock, the door opened. Dumbledore sat at the large table and looked at the two student representatives. "Nice that you both could still be here tonight" And with that he let his gaze wander between the two of them. Surely every outsider would now wait for James to be held responsible for the late arrival, but before the headmaster could open his mouth again, Lily took a step forward.
"It's all my fault, Professor Dumbledore. I told James Potter to wait for me and I was late because I was forgetting the time over a book. He was just so good and sticking to his time that we both came late to the appointment. If you wanted to release someone of your favor, take me, "she said