#spoiler: it backfired and instead severus realized their friendship wasn't healthy so he moved on

[seleneprince]

(I very much need that fanfic now. Please and thank you)

I stand firmly on that headcanon. Lily only got with James so shortly after as revenge to Snape. Even if she was attracted to bambi before, there's no way she wouldn't have waited at least a bit, unless she was very eager for Snape to see them together.

In my head, the co-dependency was mutual, because they were both outcasts back in Cokeworth and they only had each other for years. Lily only got popular at Hogwarts, when she was in the glorified Gryffindor and got the James Potter's attention. She was so thirsty for all of it she forgot herself. She forgot the Lily she used to be and became someone else.

Despite all, there were times she was tired. The expectations on her began to grow each year and she struggled to meet all of them sometimes. Luckily, she had her Sev at the end of the day, with whom she didn't have to hide or pretend. He was her safe place, he'll always be, because no matter how many times she fucked up, she knew he'll forgive her and embrace her. That's how they were. Her Sev never judged her, never expected grandious acts from her and he was devoted no matter what. Potter truly didn't hold a candle to him, as charming as he was, because he didn't know her like Sev did.

I think the main reason of Lily's reluctance towards Severus' friends was born out of jealousy. Being in a different house than him was already painful enough, but seeing him spend so much time with others, with people she didn't aprove of? She couldn't. It didn't help how her friends started to whisper in her ear that they were all DEs and practiced the Dark Arts, how Sev was just like them. No, her Sev wasn't like that, those snakes were simply brainwashing him and driving him away from her! That's why she was so insistent on him leaving them. She preferred having Severus alone but at her beck and call than Severus having friends and no longer prioritizing her.

I headcanon she the "Saint Lily" reputation at Hogwarts only made her more insecure, so she needed to control Severus and have him on a leash because otherwise she was sure she'll lose him. Maybe because, deep down, she knew she wasn't the same Lily he grew up with and knew there was a chance he didn't see her the same way if he realized, that he'll get dissapointed and leave. And she was terrified of that thought.

One of my personal headcanons is that, after the break out with Lily in fifth year and her refusing to forgive him, Severus moves on with his life and finds new friends instead, leaving Lily alone like she asked.

Lily didn't take well the fact of being ignored. You see, people assume that Severus was the emotionally dependent one of the relationship, but in truth, the co-dependence went both ways. Lily doesn't know how to handle the fact that Severus, the only person she could be herself with instead of the "Saint Lily" everyone else made her out to be, has really moved on from her. She can't stand the fact that she's no longer important to him, that she lost her place in his life. He can't deal seeing him so happy with other people when he should have been groveling at her feet, so she could take him back and have things return to the way they're supposed to be. With Severus right by her side, so only SHE could see those sides of him the world was ignorant to.

So she joins the marauders on their pranks, although not as harshly as they tend to because she still has a reputation, but she resorts to anything to get Severus' attention back. Now, the only reason he ever looks at her is when she annoys him or his friends, and as much as it hurts to see such emotions directed at her for the first time, she can't stop. She gets into arguments with him purposedly so his attention is solely on her, but it doesn't last. It never does.

What is worse? She begins to suspect the real reason behind the marauders' insistent harassment towards Severus, and she's not sure how to react...but she can finally see the appeal of the "pranks"

@amybonehouse

I like this

I'd read a fic about this from a third person pov

This is similar to how im portraying Lily in my Snetunia universe. It's just so interesting to think about "what if Snape wasn't the emotionally dependent one?" Like what if everyone had it all wrong?

And I've found the "Lily got with James to make Sev jealous" headcanon to be popular because it strays from the usual dynamic of snily