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One moment, they had Snape dangling by his feet, high above the heads of the surrounding crowd and the next, the Slytherin was just gone.
His clothing fell to the ground in a heap, wand included, but the snake was nowhere to be seen. There was a confused silence, the four of them being the most baffled out of everyone, though the crowd's confusion quickly gave way to disappointment and boredom, dispersing soon after the star of their little show had vanished.
The only person who lingered was James' paramour, who had been undoing her hair from a tight braid as she stormed her way over to the four of them, allowing her hair to fall across her shoulders in a fiery curtain as she glowered at the boys before her before stooping low to gather Snape's clothing.
"Oh my Lily-Flower." James bemoaned as he got to his knees, making a show of helping his future wife pick up the Slytherin's belongings, only to have his hand violently swatted away.
"You shouldn't have to subject yourself to being Snivillus' maid you know." James huffed as he managed to snatch the ratty old bag the snake was always carrying around; "Snape is a big boy, he can clean up his own messes."
"Piss off Potter." The red-head sneered, in much the same way Snape would have; "Why can't you just leave him alone? What has Sev ever done to you?" Evans asked curtly, James merely rolled his eyes.
"Oh my dear, sweet flower." Sirius mimed throwing-up as James played Evans for a fool, offering her the ratty bag only to pull it away at the last second and snag her wrist instead; "Can't you see? Snape is the only thing keeping us from being together."
Evans' face twisted into something disgusted as she tried to wrench her hand out of James'; "Or maybe." She spat venomously as she landed a solid kick to James' shin, which was enough to have the taller Gryphondoor not only letting go of her wrist, but toppling to the ground to nurse his aching leg.
"I'm just not attracted to children." The red-head glowered down at James before she reached and properly snatched Snivvilus' bag back, swinging it over her shoulder as she neatly folded the snake's discarded clothing in her arms.
"You know Potter. For all your spouting about my best friend being dark, or evil or whatever. Between the two of you. I think you're the only one who has ever gone out of their way to hurt someone for fun."
With that, Evans turned away, storming back to the castle, fiery red hair bouncing with each step.
O
"You don't have to defend me, you know…"
"You're my friend Sev. I'm going to defend you." Lily replied as she faced the wall of some unused classroom. Behind her, Severus was hastily redressing.
"I just don't want you to get hurt…" The Slytherin boy murmured quietly, earning himself a bemused huff from his friend; "Please, Sev. Don't you know? Potter is in L.O.V.E with me." Lily hummed sardonically before, in time with Severus, gagging.
Little show over, the two shared a bitter laugh, which Lily took her cue to turn, Severus was just finishing slipping his arms through his cloak sleeves and without invitation or asking, Lily took the boy's tie.
"Potter is an arrogant toerag who's too chivalrous to understand that not every girl wants to be swept off her feet. And not brave enough to defend those who really need defending." Lily muttered as she looped the slip of green fabric around the back of her friend's neck, knotting the tie with well practiced hands.
"The very most Potter has going for him are his good looks and deep pockets." Lily concluded as she tucked Severus' tie into his cloak, patting his chest once, twice and a third time for luck; "He's a bully, a downright vile one at that. And even if he manages to pull his head out of his own ass, he'd have to earn your approval before I would ever even begin thinking about him as a friend, let alone romantically."
Severus heaved a sigh, stepping closer to give his friend a hug. Lily made a soft sympathetic noise as she looped her arms up beneath Severus' shoulders, beginning to sway them back and forth gently.
"You found me fast." Lily hummed lightly; "Course I did." Severus mumbled against her shoulder; "You're impossible to miss."
"Do I even want to know what they did this time?"
"Oh, the usual." Severus muttered; "Just, dangling me upside down by my feet in front of half the student body. Black said something about stripping me-"
"Is that when Helle came out?" Lily interjected quietly. The Slytherin grew silent for a moment, before his arms tightened around Lily and he nodded.
Severus' Animagus form was a far cry from his human physique. Where Severus was tall, gangly he insisted, though Lily preferred the term willowy, his Animagus form was tiny, not just small, but actually tiny. The only similarities the two seemed to share were their colorations, and even then, the hummingbird's black hood appeared more iridescent than greasy.
It had been a shock to say the least, when one moment, the two were having a small spat, as friends sometimes do, and the next moment, one of them was a bird.
It was only their second year, and already, Hogwarts was threatening to pull them apart. Every effort they made to remain friends was attacked from all ends. Study meet-ups were interrupted by the self-proclaimed Marauders and their jeering taunts and cruel pranks, or commandeered by Lily's Gryphondoor girl friends who all made clear that Severus was not wanted.
The worst offenders however tended to be the Slytherins though, who would spit and curse at Lily whenever the chance arose and mock Severus for needing the help of a 'lesser witch' as they put it.
Needless to say, Lily did not like Severus' housemates.
Severus didn't like them any more than Lily, but unlike Lily, there wasn't exactly anything he could do about them.
It was at the height of the quarrel, where voices were getting raised and cheeks burned red and maybe a few tears were on the verge of falling that Severus finally snapped.
Severus didn't cry often, ever really, his father had long instilled that crying was weak. The only people who had ever seen the Slytherin cry were his mother and Lily, Lily more often than his mother but still, it was always a shock for the red-head to see her closest friend crumble to his knees.
And as always, Lily was right behind him.
Slumping to the ground, holding the taller boy close as he babbled apology after apology as she made promise after promise.
That time however, that time was very different.
"I hate them." Severus swore breathlessly; "I hate them so much. I hate what they say, I hate that I have to be like them. But if I don't they'll hate me, and-and I live there, Lily." Severus babbled.
"I live there, and they are so, so much worse behind closed doors and, I can't risk them hating me too."
"I know." Lily would reply gently, calmly; "I know, I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you Sev, I swear, I'm mad at everyone else from that damn house." Severus remained silent, trembling within Lily's arms as he fought to get his breathing back under control.
"Remember when we were little?" Lily asked softly; "Well… Littler? How you would always hide in my shadow whenever Petunia had a fit?" That earned the Gryphondoor a muffled snort from her friend.
"Wish we could go back to that." Lily giggled as she tugged Severus closer; "Back when I was the tall one… Maybe then I could protect you better…"
"I… Miss…" Severus began to mumble as he shifted in Lily's hold; "Hiding in your… Shadow…"
All at once, Lily found herself not holding her best friend, but a loose pile of his clothing, heaped across her lap, her friend nowhere in sight. To say she was momentarily stunned would be an understatement.
To say the following bout of panic was anything less than heart-attack inducing would be a lie.
And to say that the second Lily caught sight of the tiniest bird she had ever seen wriggle its way out of Severus' cloak sleeve was anything less than world-stopping?
There was the initial worry that Severus would always be a bird from then on. In a bout of understandable panic, Lily ran her friend-turned-Hummingbird all the way to their Transfigurations Professor.
At first, Professor McGonagall had not been impressed, in fact, it wouldn't have been a stretch to call her downright furious, though in her defense, she did assume the worst and figured that a student had read ahead, thought themselves clever and dared to attempt the transformation.
Upon learning that no, that was not at all the case, she shifted her focus from scolding to helping.
It was thankfully a quick-fix, or, relatively quick. A flick of Professor McGonagall's wand and Severus was back, stark naked in the hospital wing, but back, relatively unscathed, slightly humiliated. Not that that stopped Lily from nearly tackling her friend to the floor with a hug.
Unfortunately, soon after Severus had gotten re-dressed was he whisked away, being made to spend the weekend at the Ministry of Magic, filling out paperwork, proving evidence of his Animagus Form, so on and so forth before he was released back to Hogwarts with strict dietary instructions and a mandated tutelage under McGonagall to learn everything he would have in the proper Animagus Apprenticeship.
Lily thought it was the coolest thing ever, Severus found it a bit more of a hassle but could agree that Hellebore had his perks.
Such as offering a quick and easy means of escape.
Lily had been the one to suggest it, hiding in her shadow, whenever he needed for whatever reason. It took a while for Severus to come around to the idea, as much as he loved Lily, the thought of burdening her with such trivial things left a bitter taste in his mouth.
A bitter taste that was quickly replaced with one of the funniest memories Severus could recall.
"I'm just glad Helle had time to settle before I took my hair down." Lily joked with a light, teasing smile, brightening the otherwise gloomy classroom with the mere mention of Hellebore's greatest blunder. Severus merely groaned as he shoved his friend away, pink dusting his cheeks.
"Aw c'mon Sev, it was funny!" Lily insisted as she followed after her friend; "How many people do you think get to laugh about the fact their friend got tangled in their hair while in their Animagus form?" The Gryphondoor snickered as she hurried to the Slytherin's side, looping their arms together.
"I am sure there are some accounts out there…" Severus huffed; "Maybe." Lily shrugged.
"But none quite as funny as ours."