Harry Potter: The Invincible Stag

Disclaimer:

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 23: Snivelus 

"This work is amazing, James." Lily was still staring at the piece of parchment containing her runes homework. "I'm sure the professor will be shocked," she commented as they walked out of the library.

"I doubt it. Don't you already have a reputation for being a brilliant student?" James asked.

"What? I can't take all the credit for this. That would be…" Lily looked conflicted.

"That would be fine. I don't even attend that class. It would be weird if you mentioned me," James told her.

"Speaking of… why aren't you attending runes? It would be more beneficial than Magical Creatures and… what else did you take?" she asked.

"Muggle Studies," James responded.

"Ah… that class is a waste of time. I can probably teach you more about muggles than the professor. I mean… he's a pureblood. I doubt he spent much time with muggles," Lily said.

"Probably not." He didn't really choose those classes. Sirius was the one who came up with the idea. He and Peter had followed him.

Remus was the only one who made the decision to take runes and arithmancy because it benefited his career.

James didn't mind it that much. Other than potions, the classes at Hogwarts were kind of boring to him. There was nothing new to learn, even from the most difficult subjects.

"Then why not change? You could c—"

"Lily?!"

She was interrupted by the shocked call of someone across the hall.

"Sev?" Lily saw her old friend staring at her like she had just murdered someone.

He pointed at James. "How can you hang out with someone like Potter?"

"Sev, don't make a scene…" Lily noticed that they were gaining the attention of most students in the hallway.

"Last year they hung me from a tree, just for fun. That's the kind of guy James Potter is. And his friends are no better," Snape said.

Some students laughed at the memory of Snape being hung upside down from a tree right outside the castle gates.

Lily could not deny that she had been mad at James and the others for months due to that stunt.

She glanced at James, who was still at her side. The old Potter she knew would have already snapped to insult Severus, but this one was just calmly observing the situation like it had nothing to do with him.

'So that's what happened last year…' James realized. He had heard some comments making reference to something that happened near the end of their third year, but now he finally found out what it was.

"Severus… James is not like that anymore. So stop this already; you're embarrassing me…" Lily tried not to raise the tone of her voice while also being firm in her request.

But Snape was too angry to listen. "Don't fall for his tricks! Everyone thinks he's changed, but I know this is just one of his lies. He's manipulating you to get closer. How can you not see it?"

Now Lily was getting upset. "That's enough, Sev. No one is manipulating me." She turned to James. "Let's go."

Severus stood in her way. "He is, but you're being too stupid to realize it!"

James shook his head. Snape was just digging his own grave, and he didn't even need to open his mouth.

"Did you just call me stupid?" Lily was ready to slap him silly. That was one of the worst things one could call her.

"No… I…" Snape realized too late that he had messed up. He glared at James. "This is your fault!"

"Oi, look. Snivellus is trying to pick a fight." From the growing crowd of students, Sirius and Peter emerged.

The excitement of the students around them was clearly growing as they now expected a cool wizard fight to break out.

James noted that Snape was already clutching his wand, and Lily, at his side, was becoming increasingly more uncomfortable.

He decided to act before things went out of hand. "Sorry to disappoint, but no one will be fighting today." He gently pulled Lily with him so they could move away from the crowd.

"But James! He started it, like always," Sirius complained.

"I said no." James's expression didn't leave room for argument, to the point that even Snape became somewhat shocked.

As Lily and he were passing by Snape's side, she threw him an angry glare before moving on, while James stopped for a moment and approached him slightly.

Snape thought he was going to be attacked, but James just leaned closer and whispered to him, "If you keep that poor attitude, you're going to lose her. And then you're going to be left as a bitter and angry man that no one will want to be close with… think about it."

He then guided Lily away from the disappointed students while Sirius and Peter followed right behind them.

"Why did you stop me, James? Snivellus deserved a good trashing this time," Sirius said as they walked through the corridors at a brisk pace.

"Don't call him that," Lily snapped at him. "And he had good reasons to be angry at you."

"He even insulted you!" Sirius responded to her.

"James…" Peter approached and whispered to him. "What did you say to Snape? His face looked paler than usual as we were leaving."

" He did?. What did James do?, I didn't see anything." Sirius asked.

" I did nothing to Snape."James glanced back for a moment. " I merely tood him something that he needed to hear…for his own good."

James liked to think that the future was not set in stone, and people could change if they took a different road in life.

He has to believe

in this, otherwise it would be impossible for him to remain next to ' certain individuals '.

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