<div style="text-align: justify;">Lily wasn’t a fool. She knew Severus well enough to know that he wasn’t fine before the lie even escaped his lips. And she also knew him enough to know that he would probably say that and try to turn the matter around with some remark about her. Lily wondered if, apart from his mother, she was the person who actually knew him better than anyone else - even his Slytherin friends. <br/><br/>Up until now, she had always respected her friend’s defense mechanism. She had pretended to believe him when he said he was fine, even though it was an obvious lie. But now, she just couldn’t. Lily felt that Severus was dangerously close to… something. Something bad, but something she couldn’t define. And despite not knowing what darkness tried to lure him, she knew that someone had to do something. And this someone would have to be her.<br/><br/>“No, Sev, you’re not fine”, Lily replied in a gentle, yet firm intonation, using the nickname she used to give him when they were children, before she even knew she was a witch. Her gentle hand touched the bruise under his left eye very carefully. Lily knew that this one couldn’t be the only one. She knew how brutal Mr. Snape could be to his son. But she had sat and watched it, not because she didn’t care, but because she knew Severus wouldn’t go anywhere for as long as his mother was in the house.<br/><br/>Now, though, she wasn’t there anymore. Living in such a close-knit neighborhood, even if everyone pretended not to know what went on in other homes, everyone knew. And now, there was nothing to stop Lily from doing something.<br/><br/>“You are coming with me. Now”, she stated, in that firm and gentle intonation. After a second’s hesitaton - she had seen the way Severus had reacted to being touched by Malfoy, after all -, Lily decided to risk having her hand slapped away and held one of Snape’s hands in one of hers. Her touch was soft and warm, but the firmness of her grip made clear she wasn’t willing to let go so easily. “Do you trust me?”, Lily asked, her green eyes locking on his pitch black ones. His answer was all she needed to know what to do moving forward.</div>