I don't own Harry Potter. Just a one-shot I wrote for Lily Evans and Severus Snape.

Chapter 01
Soft Hooves

"Okay start" the red haired girl said, expectantly looking at the boy who was sitting across from her.
"Start what?" The boy asked blankly to which the girl's eyes widened.
"The alphabets Severus!" The girl replied" It's your turn now"

The boy name Severus peered down at his own notebook. Sure enough there were four lines drawn neatly in a page which served as columns. Each column was carrying the heading; Name, Place, Animal, Thing.

Lily Evans, the name of the girl that was sitting across from him was teaching him a game which was played in a Muggle world. The game was; Name, Place, Animal, Thing. The rules were simple; one player will recite the alphabets while other will time it. At whatever letter they stop, they had to scribble out the word for name, place, animal and thing beginning from that letter. When done with writing it down, they will announce it. If the players happen to write the same animal or thing, their score will reduce from 10 to 5.

"I don't know Lily…..shouldn't we do something else?" Severus asked. He has nothing against the game. It's just that, it belonged to a Muggle world, the world he clearly despised. And even after getting selected for the Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry and spending one year there, he desperately wanted to return back to his world. Her world, their world.

But with summers prevailing upon them, they had no option but to return to their homes. Lily looked forward to it. Severus didn't because of his family. The only good thing about holidays was, Lily will be there. It will make things a lot bearable.

"At least give it a try" Lily said, clutching the notebook to her chest. She then added" If you don't like it, we can stop playing it"
Severus smiled. That sounded like a fair deal. He straightened himself by sitting cross-legged and perching the notebook on his lap.

"Ready?"
"Yes"
"Start!"

The boy started narrating the alphabets, neither lip-syncing them nor voicing them out. His fixed gaze on the branches above, give it away that he was concentrating on something. Lily decided to stop it.

"Stop" Severus broke his observation.
"Well….what is the letter?" She asked.
"D" He answered promptly.
"How come you finished narrating 30 alphabets in seconds?" The girl asked, amazed.
"I am fast" the boy claimed, a smug smile making its way across his pale lips.
"Too Fast" Lily muttered.

"Shall we start writing down?" Severus began. Lily nodded.
"Let's do it!"

For a moment, there was only the sound of scratching of pencils on the page.

"Done!" The auburn colored hair witch cried out.
"Me too!"
"Okay, I will start" Evans begins "Name: Diana. Yours?"
"Doris"
"Place: Denmark"
"Mine is Detroit. The animal is Dog" Snape finished nervously. He was sure that both he and Lily will lose score on this animal one. It will be too much of a coincidence if they had both scribbled it down. No one's fault actually. It's the first animal that comes in your mind if the word is supposed to begin with D. But the girl surprised him by saying another word;

"I wrote Doe"
"Doe?!" Severus asked, surprise flitting across his face. That was unexpected. He didn't even thought of that animal and yet she did.
"Yeah why not?" Lily said" They are such beautiful and friendly creatures. What there's not to like about them?"

That was a opinion.

"And it starts with D" she claimed, nearly showing all her teeth in a grin.

Hogwarts is a magical place bursting with undiscovered mysteries and hidden enigmas. That means in other words there's no such thing as 'ordinary' here. Perhaps in the 'O' of OWLS but otherwise it's non-existent. So you can imagine Severus's surprise when he came across a herd of deer in the grounds of Hogwarts.

Snape was sitting underneath a tree, its bark serving as a back to lean on and was reading a book 'the standard book of spells grade 3 by Miranda Goshawk for the umpteenth time, when all of sudden Lily came dashing to him.

"Lily? What are you doing here?" Severus asked.

The girl's green eyes were dilated in excitement and she appeared out of breath as though she ran a marathon.

"I….ah…..come with me" Lily said suddenly, grabbing the boy's arm and pulling him to his feet.

The Slytherin staggered to his feet, bewildered by the companion's acts but nevertheless pleased when the girl started dragging him towards the forest.

"I want to show you something" she uttered. Snape in reply, curled his fingers around her soft palm.

They raced for like 5 minutes until a small paddock came in view. And there within the enclosed space was a herd of deer.
The wizard halted, taking in the view of hoofed animals while the witch rushed towards the fence, unlatching the lock.

The hell? They raced all the way here just for a herd of deer? Ah correction a herd of doe.

"Severus! Come here!" Lily called out.

Snape sighed before reluctantly entering the paddock. The hoofed animals glanced at him before returning to their grazing and nibbling of grass.
Lily was sitting on her knees, stroking the muzzle of a doe that was resting on a damp ground.

The boy watched the girl absorbed in petting the animal. One part of him was amused while another part of him was puzzled. They are graceful creatures but that's it. They didn't have those impressive horns which their male counterparts have. No bright colors, no wings or any ability which might make them stand out. They were just plain and ordinary. That's how Severus saw them.

But with Lily, the scenario was different. At the mention of Doe, her eyes have this dreamy look as though her soul had departed for wonderland.

Lily started talking and Severus snapped out from his pondering.

"Ogg told me they are here for transfiguration classes. But it's difficult to transfigure such big things into objects so I am assuming they must be here for seventh years…."

"Lily?"

Lily stopped speaking and looked up "Hm?"

"Ah…." Snape paused " I have been wondering…"

Why was it so difficult to phase this in a question?

"Yes?"
"Why do you like them so much?" The boy blurted it out to which the girl raised her eyebrow.
"Like what?"

"These!" Severus said, pointing his finger at the creatures for which the inquiry was implied on.

Evans peeked around. Upon realizing what it was, she started laughing, the sound resembling a little of clinking bells. Then she became quiet as though she too was finding it difficult to put her fondness for these mammals in words.
After a while she spoke;

"To many they are just a female of deer. Not more than that or less than that"

Severus bowed his head in guilt. Did she read his mind?

"Many would say there's nothing remarkable about them. But how very wrong they are" Lily utter, her face softening" They happen to have the most soulful eyes. The brown hues on their fur are so beautiful. It reminds one of warmth….."

"But what really sets them apart is their 'Innocence'"

'Innocence?'

"They pose no threat. Their naivety makes you want to protect them"

Lily paused; now running her fingers in circles in the space between Doe's eyes. She added rather shyly" The sight of them calms my nerves. I mean, like in some people presence you feel serene. I feel like that when I am around them…you do understand what I am trying to say, right?"

The girl looked up, waiting for the boy to mock her or bark a laugh, but none of that came. Only a smile.

Lily breathed, relieved. That was one of the best things about Severus and it was 'understanding the reasons without an effort'.
Severus sat down beside her and hesitantly stroked one of the ears of doe. The creature closed its eyes in contentment.

"I think she likes your hands" Lily mumbled.
"You think so?"
"I know so"

It was snowing rather heavily. Good thing the wind wasn't blowing or it would have made the weather ten times worst. Not that it mattered to him. No it didn't. Even if a snake were to slither beside him from where he sat, he wouldn't budge from the spot.
Snape was in pain. Even after being consoled for hours by his mentor Albus Dumbledore, it just wasn't enough to lessen his grief. On the contrary it only increased. Tears kept gushing out, though they froze to the skin the moment they leaked past his eyes, so now his swallow cheeks were decorated with trails of tear ducts.

What was the point of living now when she was no longer here? Even though her heart belonged to someone else, her existence was enough to suffice his assurance that as long she's living happily, I am happy.
But now she was no longer here. Tonight she will be buried. Then in weeks her body will turn into specks of dust and bone. In years, Lily Potter will become nothing but just a title to be remembered and grieved upon. That's it.

Snape clutched his chest and further slid down, closing his eyes. He has to live because that was the order as per told by the headmaster. He will have to survive in this world without her. That alone sent him in the pits of melancholy. The coming days were already started to haunt him.

The Slytherin opened his eyes suddenly. He felt like he was being stared. He roved his gaze around the area and found what broke his pondering.
A doe was standing a few yards away in a gap between two trees, the trunks framing its façade. A snow flake dropped on its black nose to which it twitched.

Severus straightened up. That was unexpected. Usually animals go into hibernation when such a tough weather prevails upon and yet here it was, standing there like It belonged to the forest. The hoofed mammal sauntered past the trees, now stepping into clearing. The doe then continued watching him intently.

The half-blood prince was instantly pulled into pools of memories.

"Yeah why not? They are such beautiful and friendly creatures. What there's not to like about them?"

"To many they are just female of deer. Not more than that or less than that"

"Many would say there's nothing remarkable about them. But how very wrong they are"

"They happen to have the most soulful eyes. The brown hues on their fur are so beautiful. It reminds one of warmth….. But what really sets them apart is their 'Innocence'. They pose no threat. Their naivety makes you want to protect them"

"The sight of them calms my nerves. I mean, like in some people presence you feel serene. I feel like that when I am around them…you do understand what I am trying to say, right?"

Now when he thinks about it, he does understand. What doe was to her, Lily was to him. Around her, Severus felt as though he had stepped under the halo of peace where nothing can go wrong. Like for does, he too had this instinct to protect the red head from all the harm in the world. And shield her he did, when she was teased by her own sister or the bullies in Hogwarts.
Even when they pretty much stopped talking in sixth year, the view of her sitting in a Gryffindor breakfast table soothed his nerves. A glance in her direction once was enough to last him for a day.

The doe stood there for a while until it turned towards east. Padding silently, she left, delving in the heart of forest, leaving behind trails of hoof prints on the snow covered ground.
But by now, Snape was content. The causal encounter with that creature slightly lulled the ache in his heart.

Some time passed when his patronus finally took a shape. It was a doe. Severus wasn't at all surprised. After all it was his favorite animal.

She likes them because they were her favorite. He likes them because they reminded them of Her.

Pardon me for mistakes...Please review :)
Noni :)