Lily grudgingly held out a cup of water and sat down on the front steps of the Evans's house. She was wearing pyjamas and slippers she'd stepped into before sneaking down the stairs. She'd been inclined to tell Severus to go away, to slam shut her bedroom window and not even give him the time of the day -- but something in Lily was too kind for that, and she had stilled her hands long enough for him to choke out a strangled "please, Evans". But she had drawn the line at letting him inside her home. She brought the water out to him instead, and sat down, not waiting for him to do the same, and stared at the toes of her shoes. 

He gulped the water as though he hadn't had a drop in months. When he finished, he lowered the glass and stepped timidly over to where she'd sat down, her back to him, and he dropped next to her on the step. She scooted as far away as the width of the stoop would allow her, and turned her face away.

Severus held the glass between his knees as he leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily could see he was quite a lot thinner than usual, and perhaps even paler - or maybe it was the moonlight playing tricks on her. His cheeks were sunken, though, that was for sure,and the skin hung at his jowls a little loose.

"You haven't been eating properly," she said stiffly, and she snuffled into her sweater cuff. "What do they feed you at that ruddy school?"

"I haven't been," he replied.

Lily looked over. "You haven't been to school?"

"No," Severus didn't look up. He was spinning the glass between his fingers.

"Where have you been, then?"

"Hiding, mostly," Severus answered with a shrug.

Lily tilted her head, "Hiding?"

"From Voldemort."

"Rubbish," she said, rolling her eyes. "You're on his team."

"Not after last year," he said quickly, and he looked up at her. His dark black eyes were cold, but Lily could see the truth in them -- and the fear. "Not since I fouled up his plan and --" 

"Saved James Potter's life?" Lily finished.

Severus scowled and looked away.

"What?" She demanded, "Do you regret it?"

Severus said flatly, "I owed it to him."

"Yes you did. And you owe a good deal more to me, too, for all the rubbish you put me through trying to get him back. And everyone else in the Resistance for saving your arse in Havmork!" Lily felt her cheeks getting hot with anger. She glowered at Severus Snape. "Yet I don't hear a think you coming out of you!"

Severus was silent.

Lily stood up. "You should go. Goodnight."

"Wait."

Severus had grabbed her hand.

Lily wrenched herself out of his grasp. "Let -- go -- of -- me," she said the words very firmly.

Severus stood up, too, turning to face her. "Listen, even if you don't have it in your heart to give me a second chance --"

"A second chance! Severus, you've had a gazillion chances! I very stupidly just keep giving you chances when you don't deserve them! Oodles of chances for years and years. I've overlooked so many rotten, nasty things you've done, but Severus -- working for You Know Who, allowing an innocent boy to be kidnapped --"

"Innocent?" Severus scoffed.

"You know what I mean," she growled.

He stared at her, his eyes searching hers. "You like him."

"What?" she was caught off guard. Of all things to reply - she hadn't expected him to come out with that. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you? James Potter? You like him."

Lily felt her throat tighten. "I don't know what makes you think that."

"The way you looked just now. Talking about him. Plus the way you acted in Havmork. The way you defied the Dark Lord for him..."

Lily didn't know how to reply. She didn't want him to throw a temper. "The point is, Severus, I have given you second chances before and you've never deserved them and you've never deserved them less than you do now. I can't even believe the audacity of you asking."

He hung his head.

"You need to leave."

Severus stood still for several long moments, as though willing her to stop and she wondered if he was looking into her mind - if he was seeing all the anger and hatred she felt toward him, or the fear that he'd see that she did like James Potter, or the fact that she was wondering about it. She shivered.

"Could you at least do me a favor?"

Lily sighed, "Haven't you been paying attention to anything that I've --"

"Just take this." Severus shoved a box into Lily's hands. It was shaped like a pentagon, wood, old, and green with silver about the edges. She stared at it, surprised by the weight of it, and started to reach for a little silver latch at the front of it. "Don't!" he snapped, reaching up and stopping her hand from opening it. "Just... just make sure nothing happens to it."

"What's in it?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"Then you won't mind if I open it," Lily said and started for the latch again.

Again, Severus caught her hand, and his eyes were as intense as she'd ever seen them. He stared into her face. "Do not... no matter what... open that box. For any reason. Ever." His voice slithered over the words. "Just promise me that you will guard it. Protect it. Keep it safe."

Lily hugged the box to her chest. "It's very valuable, then."

"Yes."

"To You Know Who?" she asked.

"Yes," Severus answered. "And he must not find it."

"Alright."

Severus backed down the steps, staring up at her eyes. He got to the stone walk away and had gone half of the way back to the driveway, where the Morris Mini sat, when he turned around and looked up at her again. "Lily?"

"Severus?"

He hesitated. Then, "If things had been different... I mean to say... if I'd done things differently... if I'd..." Severus struggled with the words. He looked very uncomfortable, and he shoved his fists deep into his long black wool trenchcoat's pockets. "Do you suppose that it might have turned out differently? Between you and I?"

Lily's fingers tightened around the box. "I don't believe you could've been different, Severus," she answered. "There was too much of it in you from the beginning."

"But if there hadn't been?"

Lily shook her head, "Severus... I'm sorry." She bit her lip, frowning, tears blurring up her eyes. "I'm sorry but no. You and I were always just friends."

"Always?" he asked.

Lily nodded. "Always."

He turned away and walked down the driveway to the sidewalk resolutely, trying very hard to keep his gait straight as possible. It wasn't until he was past the corner, headed down toward Spinner's End and well out of Lily's sight that he allowed himself to fall into a limp. Several more steps before he clutched his knee, and walked down the alley between two of the large, mouldy town houses and turned up the rickety steps to his mum's. He couldn't stay here long, he knew that much, but travelling by the Morris Mini had surely bought him a single night here, at least, especially if he slept close to the Vanishing Cabinet in Eileen Prince's old bedroom, just in case he needed to make a quick escape.

He sat heavily on his mother's old bed, and pulled up his robes to his thigh to see his knee. The were raw and nasty, the edges of the wounds black with dried blood and white with pus and even a little bone. He cringed and bent forward, holding back the shout that he wanted to give by biting down on his fist for a moment before regaining his composure. He dropped a bag that he'd brought with him from Havmork in the back of Lily's car - which he'd left at the Evans's house - and he tore away the heavy black cloak he'd used for travelling, rolling his trousers up so they would stay raised above his knee.

Limping, he made his way down to the library, where Eileen Prince had kept her potions ingredients like knickknacks on little jars all about the bookshelf. He collected the things he needed and went to the kitchen, took one of the old muggle pots, and concocted a brew to help ease the pain. It was a cut made with dark magic, and therefore could not be entirely healed, but at least he could take the edge off of it. 

Severus had no idea how he had managed to keep it together for Lily Evans's sake.

Suddenly, the floo lit up and Severus drew his wand, shaking his leg so that the trouser would fall and turned, aiming at the fireplace, his heart in his throat, fingers clutching a pulsating pink liquid in a small flask, and his eyes wide with surprise and - was that fear? Just a twinge, perhaps.

"Where is it?" It was Walburga Black. She had a breathless expression about her, wide eyed and wild haired. "Did you get it?" 

Severus stared at her. "It isn't here. Not that it is any of your business."

"It was my sister's, I have business enough of it," Walburga said, looking around the room. "It goes to the nearest living pureblood relative by wizarding law. That is me."

"It wasn't hers. It was never hers," Severus snapped, "She was chosen to guard it, but it never belonged to her for a moment. It doesn't belong to you. The magic doesn't work that way." He paused. "Besides that, you were only a half sister. Pureblood or not, a full relative out does half sister, as you so cordially reminded her every chance you ever got to!"

Walburga crossed the kitchen quickly and she grabbed Severus's cockeyed tie. "You insolent little brat, you're everything that I ever expected of you to be, coming from her." She glowered into his eyes. "You have no idea, Severus, what sort of fire you are playing with."

Severus and Walburga stared each other down for several long moments. Finally, Severus said flatly, "I told you... it isn't here."

"Where is it?" Walburga demanded.

"I don't know," Severus replied.

Lily sat in her bedroom, at her desk, the pentagon-shaped box sitting before her, her desk lamp illuminating it. Having been staring at it for near to an hour, she finally plucked up her courage, reached for her desk drawer, retrieved her parchment and quill, dipped it in the ink, and wrote:

Potter,

A peculiar thing happened this evening, and of all of the people in the world, you are the only one whom I want to talk to about it. However, I don't know that I dare put it in an owl, particularly one going so far as Costa Rica. But I do hope that you've the ability to use a muggle phone box. Below, you shall find my number, please give me a ring when you are able so that we might discuss this strange thing that happened.

Yours,

Evans.