Author's Note: I don't own these characters, but I love to mess around with them. This story is just a little snippet of a "moment before." I'd love any feedback you have for me!

They all stared as they passed.

Some laughed; most whispered; a few made an effort to address him. He ignored them all, his eyes shifting from person to person, looking only for her. James Potter flourished his wand as he climbed into the portrait hole, turning to mutter something to Sirius Black. No doubt plotting their next dose of public humiliation.

Toe-rags. It was her word, but he had adopted it as his own. It was less profane than most of the other names he called Potter and his cronies, and he always used it when connected with her in his thoughts. He considered casting a jinx through the hole after them, but he dared not. He had too much else to atone for tonight.

He settled in a sitting position, ignoring the constant trickle of Gryffindors returning from dinner. He had skipped the meal in hopes of catching Lily before she disappeared into the dormitory. His knees drew up, shielding him from the commotion by the portrait hole, allowing him to retreat into his own thoughts.

Damn Potter.

From that first train ride, he had known. Somehow, the pampered prat with his fancy robes and devil-may-care attitude would be the undoing of it all. Potter certainly wasted no time in choosing him for a special enemy – just as he chose her as his pet project. The lump in his stomach had never truly gone away since he saw the triumph on Potter's face as she made room for him at the Gryffindor table.

Five years ago.

Five years they had managed to keep their friendship – letting summer holidays solidify it for the school year ahead, boldly ignoring the whispers and wonderings. It was a grand adventure to her, ignoring the accepted stereotypes and flaunting the fact that a snake and a lion could be the best of friends. He'd stayed by her side, letting the glow of her enthusiasm calm the knots in his chest as they grew up and he realized his feelings had changed…

She was there. He scrambled to his feet.

"Lily!"

She kept up the conversation with the girl on her right as if he hadn't spoken. It stung more than he'd expected. She'd never ignored him before.

"Lily!"

The Ravenclaw to her left glanced over at him, said a distracted good-night and left for her own dormitory as the Gryffindors waited by portrait for the Fat Lady to decide to open. She was babbling about the inconvenience of the constant open-and-shut orders of an evening. The girls formed an impenetrable front through which he could only see the top of a coppery head of hair.

He stepped closer.

"Lily?"

The Fat Lady noticed him, gave a disdainful sniff and opened. The girls quickly stepped through. She was last. She hesitated for the briefest of moments, head turning to meet his gaze. The stark, flat anger in her eyes frightened him. With no more response to his call than that, she climbed in and the Fat Lady quickly closed behind her, eyeing him with extreme suspicion.

Nothing.

He had seen Lily Evans cry when a flower was crushed, shout in fury when a bully took after the first years, laugh in abandon when the summer breezes off the lake set the grass whispering. He had never seen her like this. Her eyes were always afire with some emotion – now they were hooded and polite, carefully veiling whatever her true thoughts were. That was his game, not hers. The sight of it made him sick.

One of her friends rounded the corner. He stepped in front of the portrait.

"I have to talk to her."

She gave a little scream-gasp. "Severus, you oughtn't to sneak up on a person like that!" Her demeanor went immediately cold as the flush of surprise left her face. "If Lily doesn't want to talk to you, I'm certainly not going to tell her she should. She doesn't owe you anything."

"Just ask her to come out here."

"I'll do no such thing. Just go back to your dungeons and leave her alone. If she wants to talk to you, she can go find you."

She turned her back on him firmly, speaking the password to the Fat Lady, who was more than interested in their exchange.

"I'm not going back to my dormitory till she comes out here," he insisted, keeping at her elbow.

"Let it go. She's not coming out here tonight."

It was that flippant tone that did it. The anger bubbling inside his gut boiled over.

"Then I'll stay here until morning! I'll sleep in front of the portrait so she'll have to trip over me to get out."

She stepped away from him as the portrait swung open with another sniff from the Fat Lady. He flung himself down beside the portrait hole, drawing his knees up against his chest again. He would do it. If it came down to it, he would stay outside that door until summer holidays began. He could prove that it had been a mistake.

She stopped with one foot inside the portrait hole. He glanced up at her through a sheet of black hair he didn't bother to move. He had no use for the rest of the Gryffindors. They could think him as merely an insolent brooder or a dangerous dark wizard for all he cared. He only needed to talk to Lily. She would understand.

The girl drew back at his expression. "I'll tell her you're here."

He nodded, propping his crossed arms on his knees. Now he just had to wait. She would come. He would explain. All would be well.