It hadn't escaped him that Lily seemed to pull her hand away just as they'd reached Slughorn's door. He wasn't sure where she was going with this, but he stood aside to observe the interactions with interest. Slughorn wasn't one of James's favourite Professors, but all things considered, he was a lot more fair to Gryffindors than he'd originally given him credit for.
Severus? James shot a look at Lily but managed to keep his mouth shut throughout the short conversation. When Slughorn went off to find his potion, James rounded on Lily and pulled her close so that he could heatedly whisper at her:
"Snape? What the bloody hell does he have to do with anything?" He really tried to control his tone and the pressure that he put on Lily's arms. Really he did. The stormy look in his eyes, however, would not be suppressed. Here they were worried about Sirius and she had the nerve to talk about that greasy git. Besides, James had thought that they'd stopped being bloody friends.