I needed a little break from "Always Been There" (my Katie/Oliver fic), and I wanted to write a one-shot, and this fluffy little thing popped into my head.

Warning: There are hints of Lily/Severus (even though they are like, 6 or so...) so if that's not your thing, carry on.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. It would, of course, be totally awesome if I did. But I don't. So there you have it. And now, without further ado...

Hopscotch

Lily Evans was squatting on the ground on a warm spring day, her hand wrapped around a stub of pink chalk, trying to draw pretty, symmetrical boxes so that she and her sister Petunia could play hopscotch. Petunia had gone off a couple of minutes before to find a rock they could toss onto the board. Lily heard her running back and looked up expectantly, putting the chalk down for a moment.

"Got it!" Petunia said triumphantly, putting it into Lily's outstretched hand for inspection.

"Looks good, Tuney," Lily said excitedly. "I like it."

Petunia dropped her voice to a whisper. "Lily, that creepy Snape kid's watching us again." She nodded at the hook-nosed boy, who was leaning against a tree trunk a few yards away.

"Tuney! He's not creepy," Lily said indignantly. "He's my friend."

"No, he's not," Petunia scoffed. "He's an-an acquaintance, that's all."

Lily rolled her eyes. Petunia used such big words sometimes. "Doesn't really matter anyway. He looks lonely, don't you think?" Without waiting for an answer or even her sister's approval, she had called, "Sev!" and waved him over, then set the stone down at her side and picked up the chalk once more.

He walked over rather cautiously, shooting nervous looks at Petunia, who always made it quite clear, through both facial expressions and body language, that she thought he was no good.

He stared curiously down at the grid Lily had resumed drawing. "What's that, Lily?"

"A hopscotch board. Do you like it?" Lily looked up hopefully.

He looked confused. "What is hopscotch?"

Petunia snorted. "I told you there's something wrong with him, Lily. Who doesn't know what hopscotch is?"

Severus blushed and looked at his feet. "Forget it," he muttered.

"Tuney! Be nice!" Lily scolded. "It's okay, Sev, I'll show you. Hey, why don't you play with us?!"

He looked up. "Really?"

"No way. He can't play with us," Petunia said meanly.

"But, Tuney," Lily pleaded. "He wants to! You're not being fair!"

"Fine!" Petunia huffed. "But if he plays, I'm not going to!" She flounced off toward the swings.

Lily sighed. "Guess it's just the two of us, then, Sev," she said quietly, and Severus fought the urge to smile at those words.

She had finished the boxes by this point and was now writing a number in each box, the numbers 1 through 10, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"There!" Lily put the piece of chalk down and stood up, wiping bright pink dust onto her jeans. Then she picked up the smooth, blue-grey stone Petunia had picked out and tossed it onto the hopscotch board, hoping it would land on-

"Ten! Yes!" she cheered.

"That's good, then?" Severus asked, watching her closely.

"Yep," Lily grinned. "You throw the stone onto one of the squares, then hop to get it. Guess that's why it's called hopscotch, huh?"

"I s'pose," Severus agreed.

"Now, watch me, okay?" Lily hopped and jumped to the other end of the board, counting to ten as she did so. She leaned over to pick up the stone then straightened up, saying, "This part's kind of tricky. You have to turn and jump at the same time!"

She demonstrated this, executing it perfectly, and made her way back to Severus, who applauded as she stepped off the grid, marveling at how her long red hair had stayed out of her face the whole time.

"Your turn," Lily said, handing him the stone.

Severus took it, feeling shy all of a sudden. "Lily, what if I miss the board?" he fretted.

She laughed. "Then you just pick it up and try again, silly," she said, but he continued to look worried. "Here, I can help you, if you want. I'm really good at this part," she added, reaching over to take his hand.

"You're good at all of it," he mumbled, but Lily didn't seem to hear him. She was too busy swinging their joined hands, gauging how high they should go before releasing the stone.

"All right, now!" she cried, and Severus let the stone go, feeling a pang of regret as she removed her hand from underneath his. The marker flew through the air, barely making it inside the tenth box when it landed.

"Now I have to hop over and get it, right?" Severus asked, secretly hoping she would hold his hand and help him over.

"That's right. So what are you waiting for?" Lily made no move to take his hand again, so he knew he was on his own.

He took a deep breath and hopped awkwardly to the other side, trying to ignore Lily's cheers. Several times he was forced to wave his arms wildly to keep his balance. After what seemed like ages to him, he was bending over to pick up the marker. He straightened up, wondering how he was going to do the turn and jump and not look like an idiot.

"Need some help?" Lily asked, and he nodded gratefully. She walked over and squeezed his hand for a moment. "You can do this," she whispered, her breath tickling his ear. Slipping her hand out of his, she stepped back and smiled, and Severus felt elated.

He took another breath and did the turn and jump almost as gracefully as Lily had, causing Lily to cheer again. Pleased with his success, returning to the beginning of the board was much smoother and quicker.

"Great job, Sev!" Lily exclaimed, and she ran over and gave him a hug, which he returned enthusiastically. "Let's play again!"

Severus groaned inwardly. The holding hands part had been fun, but he couldn't figure out what was so appealing about hopping back and forth inside a bunch of boxes. "Hey, how 'bout we play tag instead?"

Lily shrugged. "Okay."

Relieved, Severus poked her arm. "You're It," he said, laughing, and ran away.

"Hey, no fair!" she shouted. "Severus Snape, I'm going to get you!"

He stuck his tongue out at her, and Petunia rolled her eyes from where she sat on the swing. "So immature," she sighed.

Lily and Severus ignored her and continued to chase each other around. Severus cherished this time he spent with his friend, away from his house and all of the yelling. He hoped he and Lily would remain friends forever.

All too soon, however, it was time for the Evans girls to return home. Lily waved to Severus while Petunia scowled. Severus waved back with a shy smile, already looking forward to the next time he and Lily could play together.

Reviews and reviewers are loved!