Round Robin: The Post-Grad Prince: Part 2 ***COMPLETE***
Title: The Post-Grad Prince: Part 2
Premise: this is a direct continuation of Part 1.
Limitations: Snily. The timeframe for this RR is exactly one year from graduation, meaning that it has to end before, and no later than, June 1979. Participants may include time-skips if the scene prompts them to prevent the RR from going too long.
Allowed Points of View: Severus
Note: Please be sure to read our official Round Robin rules before participating. Thank you!
The Post-Grad Prince
Severus didn't have to look at Lily to know she'd gone on edge as James Potter and Sirius Black, of all people, stepped into the Three Broomsticks. Pettigrew was behind them, barely noticeable if not for the shorter boy peeking out from behind the former Head Boy. Black was glaring at Severus; Potter, on the other hand, was glaring at something on the table, and Severus looked to see that it was Lily's hand.
What Severus saw when he looked at Lily's hand surprised even him. He hadn't paid much attention, fearing to see an expensive and shiny ring on her finger, just one more proof that she had finally chosen Potter over him... But there was nothing. Nothing at all.
Just the sight of her bare hand was enough to make Severus ignore the glare Sirius Black was sending his way. His brain was already working, trying to understand what it meant that she wasn't wearing the engagement ring that Potter must have given her on such an outing.
Had she simply forgotten to put it back on after getting ready to meet his grandfather?
Or did she take it off deliberately?
Was it an attempt to send him a hidden message?
Perhaps an attempt to underline that not everything was set in stone if he was willing to move away from the path he thought was the right one for him?
As well as he knew Lily, it had been almost two years since they had spoken, and he wasn't sure what to make of it.
In the past, he would have been sure that there was a hidden meaning behind it because Lily never did anything without thinking about it first.
But now? She was with Potter, even engaged to him... So how could he know if that was still the same? That she hadn't changed in the last two years?
So many questions were running through his mind at that moment that Black and Potter really seemed like the tiniest problem to ever grace his life with its presence.
And then his eyes moved away from her hand to look into hers - just to be reminded of the dress she was wearing.
Silver lining.
Emerald green fabric.
A tight fit that accentuated her curves perfectly.
Black stockings that showed off her long legs perfectly.
It was pure instinct - an instinct he hadn't known himself so far - that took over as he took her other hand in his under the table, giving it a reassuring squeeze while the back of his hand brushed against her thigh, simply providing some physical contact in the hope of calming her in the situation they were in.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY FIANCEE!"
Severus's head spun back to the two former Gryffindors as one grabbed him by the collar and pulled him out of his seat, while the other grabbed him by the arm and all but threw him to the ground. He heard other people in the inn react as chairs scraped against the wooden floor, and there were a few exclamations.
"Stop it, James!" Lily shouted, and Severus looked to see that she'd drawn her wand from wherever she'd kept it.
The impact of his back on the wooden floor was not pleasant at all, but Severus didn't care.
What he cared about was being embarrassed once again in front of Lily, and ending up face down on the dirty floor of the inn - thrown around as if he were nothing more than a rag doll.
It was just like back at Hogwarts, whenever he had a day that was almost good, Potter would appear from somewhere and ruin it.
As if the boy had nothing else in his life but to torment him and make his life as miserable as possible.
But where at Hogwarts embarrassment had turned into blind rage that made him lash out at Lily, this time was different.
This time he saw Lily not as someone who pitied him, but as the person who helped him at a moment when no one else would.
And that wasn't meaningless, no. She raised her wand against Potter, the man she was destined to marry, just to defend him - the boy who had once called her the worst possible name.
"Lily." A smile came to his lips as he looked at her, his deep voice taking on a warmth he didn't know he possessed - and somehow he was sure it was reserved for her alone. "Thank you."
He didn't care if Potter and Black threw hexes at him or even attacked him with their pure fists, all he cared about was that he could look into her eyes and that she was on his side again.
"Oi!" One of the barmaids had come out from behind the counter where she'd been working. "What's going on here?!"
All heads turned to her as Pettigrew stepped forward and said, "O-oh, there seems to be a bit of a misunderstanding--"
"Then understand this," the barmaid said. "Either get out, or you'll be put out!"
Severus stood, keeping an eye on Potter and Black in case they did anything, which seemed to be warranted with how Black had his hand in his coat pocket. He fingered the wand up his sleeve, ready to let it fall down into his palm when necessary.
The five of them (four, really, Pettigrew barely counted for anything) walked out into the summer evening air, both pairs stepping out separately; Severus and Lily stayed behind Potter and Black just in case.
Even though he was expecting the worst from Potter and Black, he somehow managed to stay calm and not make the mistake of casting the first spell with their backs to him and Lily.
Back at Hogwarts it would have been hard for him not to take that chance, but now... Somehow it felt easy, as if something had changed in the last few moments, something he didn't understand - at least for now.
While he didn't consider Pettigrew a threat, it was different with Black. The boy might have been in Gryffindor, but he still had more than enough of his family in his blood, and that often showed when someone dared to hurt his best friend.
And while Severus might have to worry about himself, he was more concerned that Black might take the opportunity to attack Lily while making it look like an accident for Potter.
The second the door shut behind them, Potter and Black had turned, Black's wand out and trained on Severus (Severus's own wand trained on Black in kind), and Potter resumed his questioning. Pettigrew had taken a few steps away.
"Why are you here with Snape?!" Potter asked. "Where's your ring?!"
"Why didn't you stop going after Severus?" Lily asked coldly, crossing her arms in proper Lily fashion.
"What are you talking about? Of course, I stopped!"
"Severus said--"
"What, you believe a Slytherin over your own fiancée?!" Potter shook his head as though Lily had gone mad. "He's obviously lying to you!"
"And I suppose he also lied about what happened down in that tunnel, then?"
Both Potter and Black seemed to tense up.
"Maybe I could go to Remus about it," Lily continued. "And maybe, he'll tell me more than you've let on."
"Why you slimy little bastard..." It was Black who suddenly had his full attention back on him, the knuckles of his wand turning white as his grip on it seemed to tighten in anger.
"Lily." It was Potter who seemed to be trying a calmer approach now, Severus noticing the change in voice and the small smile that suddenly appeared on the other boy's lips. "You can't be telling me you still believe Snape over me, have you forgotten what he called you in fifth year?"
"That was after yo–"
"He didn't even keep the vow he made to Dumbledore!" Black snarled, his eyes flicking from Severus to Lily for a split second.
"Padfoot, st–"
"No Prongs!" The other boy snarled in anger. "The Unbreakable Vow should have kept him from telling anyone about this, and somehow he managed to tell you and still be standing here. Isn't that enough to tell you how deep into the Dark Arts this bastard must be?"
Severus noticed Potter's eyes go wide as he blinked. Black had not seemed to care in Dumbledore's office in fifth year, but had he really not listened to the vow? He should have known that it would be over as soon as Dumbledore couldn't expel him from Hogwarts anymore.
"It's true, then?!" Lily sounded furious.
"Oh, come on, Lily," Potter said, clearly trying to de-escalate the situation. "Nothing came of it!"
"Oh, 'nothing came of it'?! Is that your excuse, just because 'nothing came of it'?! Do you have any idea what that did to hurt our friendship?!" Lily gestured between her and Severus. "I thought Severus was being delusional, for God's sake!"
"Lily--"
"And then you had the nerve to threaten his well-being unless I went out with you!"
"I said I'd stop!"
"And you didn't! After I thought you'd changed, I trusted you, because I thought you didn't want to go after him anymore! I bet you'd have gone behind my back if I'd agreed to your deal during O.W.L.s!"
"What proof do you have?!" Potter's face was red, but not with embarrassment. "You're just taking his word for it!"
