Lily smiled brilliantly and helped him gather up his books before picking up her own. As they stood up, her smile faded as she thought about them having to pass near the spot where James and his friends had been earlier. Hopefully they were gone by now. If not... well, she wasn't going to let them hurt her best friend again. Not caring how forward it might seem, she took Severus's hand in her own as they began walking toward the library. If James starts, I'll give him a piece of my mind, she thought with certainty. I'll knock the idiot over the head with a book or something. She knew she would never do that, as much as she wanted to. Still, she was determined to protect Severus however she could. The first way to do that was by showing she was proud of being his friend.