AN: I guess it's been a while since I've written anything, but this idea has been sitting around for a while. I have a tumblr now, so my art and writing and everything else is in the same place – Follow me at teach-me-how-to-lovegood
And for anyone who reads Vanities and Presumptions, I swear I'll work on it soon!
May 1976
"Hi Sev." Lily sat down next to him on the grass by the lake. "I brought lunch; I thought we could have a picnic in between all this studying."
"It's a bit late for lunch. How's the defense studying going?"
"Ah, well, you know how much I love dangerous creatures. I'm starving, and I can tell you haven't eaten, so I popped down to the kitchens and they made me a picnic basket."
Sev peeked into the basket. "Cucumber sandwiches, pumpkin juice, crisps, and chocolate biscuits. You really are the best, Lils."
"I knew you were hungry."
"You always do."
The two sat in silence, watching the giant squid bask in the sun, and the first and second years daring each other to go deeper and deeper into the water.
"Lily." She snapped out of her reverie. "Do you know what's going to happen after… after Hogwarts? Do you think we'll still be friends?"
"Of course we will. Why are you asking?
"Well, it's just… you're always hanging out with your other friends - "
"You're talking about Potter." Lily's face hardened slightly.
"Well… not just him," Severus spluttered, "Black, too. And that girl, Alice, or whatever her name is."
"You know very well her name is Alice. You've been going to school with her for five years. And what do you have against her?
" I dunno. She always seems… She's just always…"
"Spit it out, Sev."
"She's just always whispering to you. Every time I walk past you two."
"Sev, that's what girls do. They whisper about everybody and gossip in the bathrooms. Don't tell me you haven't realized I'm a girl." Lily was smiling by now. "And besides, she's my best friend."
"I thought I was your best friend."
"You are. It's just different, being around you."
"Different." He looked crestfallen.
"That's not a bad thing." Lily took his hand. "It just… feels different."
He took a deep breath, as if plucking up the courage, and scooted in closer to her. "Lily, I have – "
A shadow fell over them. "Hello, Snape."
"Avery, Mulciber."
"Where have you been? You were supposed to meet us. We have…" Mulciber eyed Lily distastefully. "… plans."
"I guess I lost track of time." Snape held up his book awkwardly to show he was studying, but Mulciber glanced to where Snape had dropped Lily's hand – they were barely a centimeter apart.
"Don't tell me you were studying. We all know you –"
"I wasn't!" Snape stood up. "I swear… We were just… I'm coming, I'm coming." Without a backward glance, he picked up his books, brushed the grass off his robes, and followed the two Slytherins up the stairs into the castle.
Lily sighed, it was back to only cucumber sandwiches for company.
"That's a lot of food for one person," James Potter sat down on the blanket Snape had just vacated, "Especially one so skinny as you, Evans."
"Help yourself, Potter. What are you, Professor McGonagall?"
"It's cool." James looked past the sandwiches and went straight for the crisps.
"What is?"
"Evans. Potter. Calling people by their last name. It's classy and old-timey-like."
"Whatever you say, James. I still think you sound like you're telling someone off."
"What is this crap?" James had picked up a sandwich, "Cucumber? Yuck."
"What's wrong with cucumbers?"
"They're disgusting!"
"They don't taste like anything."
"Exactly. Who's all of this for, anyway? You're more of a toastie sandwich kind of girl anyway."
"How did you know that?"
"You went to the kitchens and asked for toastie sandwiches at lunch. The whole school knows it. So what's with the cucumbers?"
"They were for Sev. " Lily didn't look up.
"Has he invented a spell to hide in the grass now?"
"No, he… he left."
"Must have been the cucumbers. I could have told you they were a bad decision"
Lily snorted, "Actually, the guys showed up."
"Avery and Mulciber?"
"Who else? Apparently they have 'plans,' which sounds a little sketchy. I guess I'll keep an eye out during patrols."
"Need any help?"
"Nah, Remus will be there, I'm sure we can handle it."
"Well, if you ever need to go outside the law –"
"You're my guy? So I've heard."
"Surprised I haven't got more detentions from you."
"You're surprisingly hard to trace, and we're not supposed to hand out detentions without proof."
"Never stopped McGonagall."
"Come on, everyone knows it's you. And she's a teacher; she can do whatever she wants."
"She still loves me."
"Only because you're quidditch captain."
"Good enough for me." James noticed the stack of books behind Lily. "Are you ready for the exam tomorrow?"
"Not quite, I think I need to work on shield charms a bit."
"Yeah they're annoying." James pulled out his wand. "I think the trick is in the movement; here, look."
The cucumber sandwiches lay by the blanket, forgotten.