Always

After he heard James and his friends approaching, Severus decided that he would at least try to avoid conflict by hiding in the shadows of one of the stone gargoyles that stood guard over the corridor. Of course, he realized that James or one of the others might easily be able to spot him, but that was besides the point. At least he could honestly tell Lily if she found out about tonight that he wasn’t starting anything with James.

“I told you she’d fall for it,” James’ snarky voice came from just a few feet in front of the gargoyle. “Did I tell you that I have a date tomorrow night with Alice Brighton?”

“But you’re with—” Remus Lupin’s voice could be heard, before Snape heard James cut the boy off rather shortly.

“I know you don’t like it, Moony, but you know how I am. Lily’s just another girl. I wanted her, I got her. I think I’ll keep her, too. There’s something rather interesting about her,” James said with a smug voice, causing Severus to see red.

He couldn’t understand why Lily couldn’t see that James was only using her. He was so smug and confident, and before his mistake, Lily had understood what kind of person James Potter was. She had sided with him; she’d understood that Severus never started any of the fights that James pulled on him.

Before he could get any further in his thoughts on that matter, everyone became eerily silent, causing Severus to hold his wand stiffer and his back straighter. He somehow knew that James had spotted him, and he knew that this could only result in a fight.

“We’ve got company, friends,” James said before he cleared his throat. “Lumos.”

In a split second, James’ wand lit up the area and illuminated Severus’ young face, his eyes even darker than normal because of the anger coursing through his veins, his fist clenched tightly around his wand, holding it in a position of offense, his other hand tightly clenched at his side.

“Isn’t it a little late to be out of the common room, Potter?” Severus asked coldly, knowing that the other boy would well have a comeback for him. James always had a comeback for everything.

“I could say the same to you, Snivellus,” James sneered before looking at his friends as though he was proud of himself for something. “I suppose you just heard me talking about Lily, haven’t you?”

“I’m not deaf,” was all Severus said, knowing that if he said more, he’d be apt to do something that he’d regret later on. Even though he was now confronted and he knew that he was going to end up protecting himself at some point within the next little bit, he was still trying to stop a fight from happening simply because he knew Lily would disprove.

“You know what, Snivellus? She’s not going to believe you if you say a word to her,” Sirius said from the right side of James. He too had a confident smirk on his face, though Severus knew it mostly came from being associated with James. The two of them might be best friends, but everyone knew that to an extent, Sirius, Peter, and Remus road on James’ coattails.

“You’re right, Padfoot,” James agreed before he turned to face Sirius. “She really isn’t very happy with you, you know. In fact, I’d say she hates you.”

“Say what you want,” Severus said through gritted teeth, James’ words grating on his nerves more than he thought they did. “She doesn’t hate me,” he muttered, though his words were spoken more to himself than to James.

He didn’t think he’d be able to live with himself if Lily truly hated him. She was such an important part of his life and such a huge part of his life.

In a moment, everything changed. James raised his wand and opened his mouth to blurt out a spell of some sort, and Severus knew he needed to beat him to the punch. “Oppugno!”

Severus watched as the gargoyle he’d been hiding behind moved into life, ramming into James and knocking him onto his back before it continued moving further to him. James was back on his feet in an instant, an angered look on his face and a frown set thinly upon his lips.

“Confringo!” James shouted the spell, causing the gargoyle to break into thousands of smaller pieces, some of which hit Severus in the face. He narrowed his eyes and then stepped back again before he raised his wand again, not allowing James’ counter-spell to get him off track.

“Expelliarmus!” He yelled out at once, causing James’ wand to fly out of his hand before he shouted again, “Serpensortia!”

Everyone stopped as a large, black snake appeared in the room. Severus himself was not frightened of the snake; he had, after all, been the one to cast the spell that brought it. But that didn’t mean that the others weren’t intimidated by it, and he could see it clearly written on James’ face that for once, he was at a loss on what to do.

“Vipera Evanesca!” Sirius was the one who yelled out the spell this time, causing the snake that Severus had summoned to disappear. Severus narrowed his eyes at the Black, angered far more than he knew he should be.

“Cr—” He started before he was cut off by a different voice this time.

“Expelliarmus!” Lily’s voice called out, clearly angered. Severus’ wand shot out of his hand and flew across the room before she called out, “Accio, Severus’ wand,” calling the wand into her free hand before she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Lily, I didn’t—” James started before she cut him off.

“Shut up!” She yelled at him. She didn’t seem to care that it was the middle of the night and that they could all be caught and get in trouble with a professor. Severus had never seen her as anger as she looked to be at this point, and it slightly worried him.

“I have half a mind to snap your wand, Severus,” she said through gritted teeth as she glared at Severus. “What were you thinking, almost using that—”

“He started it!” Severus defended himself, though he knew it was highly unlikely that Lily had actually seen the start of everything. “I wouldn’t have tried to use it if I hadn’t been provoked.”

“That’s no excuse,” Lily narrowed her eyes at him. “You can’t use spells like that, Severus! It’s unforgiveable for a reason!”

“Yeah, Sni—” James started before Lily slapped him as hard as she could across his face, effectively silencing his words.

“And you!” She glared at him, pointing her own wand at her boyfriend this time. “You did start this, James. I watched you!”

James knew that he was caught in the act, and he made no move to apologize or take back what he’d done. He was clearly pissed off that Lily had caught them in the middle of the fight. After several minutes, she sighed and walked over to Severus, handing him his wand before stepping back angrily.

“I don’t want to talk to any of you again for awhile,” she seethed before storming away, leaving the five of them alone. Severus had no idea what had just happened, and he didn’t know if it was good or bad for him. All he knew was that right now, Lily was mad at James. And even if she was angry with him right now, too, he could bear it as long as she wasn’t happy with James.