Disclaimer: yeah i still own nothing shocker yay wow.

A/N: so for this round of ql it was to write a story inspired by fox and the hound someway, which is pretty much one of my all time favorite movies, so this was pretty exciting. my first instinct was severus and lily, but it took me a while to work out a plot, so i tinkered with some other ideas...but in the end i ended up back at them. i hope the correlations are pretty clear, and that the story does something to your heart, because it did to mine. in addition, i've realized all my sevlily stories have been from sev's point of view, so i fixed that here. the princess's tale, perhaps? please enjoy! (ALSO IF ANYONE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT CURSED CHILD FEEL FREE TO PM ME) written for:

qlS4R9: catapults' beater 1: fox and the hound inspired (optional prompts: 2. clumsy, 4. tea leaves); cinema comp: ferris bueller's day off: friendship; social media comp: twitter hashtag: one word title that starts with the same letter as the first word in the story

Darlin', forever is a long, long time, and time has a way of changin' things. - Big Mama, The Fox and the Hound

Forever

Five times in five days was a lot fighting, and Lily Evans was growing sick of it as quickly as Tuney seemed to grow more stubborn and upset. They wouldn't play like they used to—every time they tried to start something, Petunia would get irked by something Lily did, and Lily found herself irked in turn. Mummy said it was just a part of growing up, but if this was growing up, she'd rather be a kid forever.

Petunia also hated it when things went Lily's way. She just got lucky sometimes, that's all. Of course, being able to jump that far off the swings, and hide in a spot that seemed to grow more concealed by the moment was a bit strange, but Lily couldn't know how or why.

And Lily had been practicing her flowers, trying to show Petunia and cheer her up; that only upset her more.

To top it all off, that strange boy showed up out of nowhere, announced that he had been spying on her, and made her feel like she was crazy.

Lily Evans was not crazy, and she intended to prove it.

Petunia was still inside complaining to their parents anyway, and they certainly wouldn't be talking at all today. She would go and find Severus and demand an explanation. Anything that could get Tuney to talk to her again.

Mind made up, she called to her parents that she was walking down the road and ran to the playground. It hadn't been long, but she was disappointed to see he wasn't here anymore. Then again, he couldn't be far off, and Lily continued on her way. She saw his finger fifty meters away in a few more moments and ran the last distance. He was still wearing that coat. How strange.

"Hello."

Snape jumped, clearly caught off guard, and his sallow cheeks flushed. He swallowed. "What are you doing here? You didn't believe me."

Lily raised her chin defiantly. "That's because you said you've been watching me in private, and called me nasty things. But…" and just then, she seemed at a loss for words. How did she do those things, anyway? "I suppose I have a few questions." He gave a small nod and rolled his eyes, clearly dejected that she hadn't heard him out before. Well, what did he expect, coming after her and Tuney like that? Nevertheless, she trudged on. "How do you know you're a wizard? And that your mum is a witch?"

"Because she has magic. So do I, and so do you." Snape's tone suggested she had asked what color the sky was.

"But I can't do magic," Lily said, sighing louder than she meant to and growing more frustrated by the minute. Nothing made any sense.

"What do you call the flower thing?"

"It's just something I can do. Everyone has talents."

Snape shook his head, clearly baffled at her denial. "Not talents that control uncontrollable objects. A flower, plucked from its stem? How would it be alive to move?" Tired of talking, it seemed, Snape bent and plucked a piece of grass. He screwed up his eyes and concentrated—"You're much better than me," he explained quickly, and Lily blushed—and the grass bent from the tip, curving inward until it was perfectly spiral. "That was one of the first things I could do." He presented the spiral to her, and she took it as he turned away. "I'll just...go now."

Lily watched him take two steps before she sprung, suddenly intrigued and in need of company. This boy seemed rather kind, after all. "Wait!" He turned, and she smiled. "What's your name?"

"Severus," he said flatly.

Lily continued to beam. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Come with me, unless you've got supper to be home for." She lunged and grabbed his hand. Severus' eyes widened, and he followed in haste.

They met every day in the playground, taking turns swinging as high as they could and trying with more plants, seeing what they could do on a day without a breeze. Not much was accomplished beyond a blade of grass flying a meter between them, but Lily was thrilled to have a great friend. He was rather quiet, and she supposed Tuney didn't like him very much, but why should that matter to Lily?

It was a year later when he was quiet all afternoon, and then finally whispered something he hated to hear come from his lips. Lily sat close and held his hand, knowing something was wrong. She wanted to be there for him.

"My mum told me yesterday we shouldn't be friends. That it isn't natural."

Lily lost her tongue for a few moments. "But…your dad isn't magical."

Severus sighed, his fingers tapping each other back and forth nervously and efficiently. His voice broke just a bit. "Maybe that's why she said it." He didn't have to explain much more. The drinking, the fighting, the atmosphere. At home, it's like he wasn't even there.

Lily lunged to hug him, holding him tight. "Oh, Sev. We'll always be friends. Forever, if I can help it."

She felt Severus hold her a little tighter.

Lily sat at the Gryffindor table, nose upturned from Sirius as she waited nervously for Sev's sorting. It felt and like forever, and when he was finally called, his movements were unusually clumsy on his way to the stool, and Lily knew they weren't just from nerves but from the results of her Sorting. They had wanted to be together….

Lily introduced herself to the few of the other girls who were sorted in her year, Mary and Marlene. They were jittery and happy, and it took Lily's mind off of whatever awaited her and Severus.

But he shot her a small smile across from his table, and Lily joyfully returned it, relief washing over her.

Everything would be all right.

Lily sat alone at the Gryffindor table, trying to take her mind off things with a nice cup of tea. She surveyed the bags of leaves and considered trying something new as she did occasionally, but stuck with her favorite. She was just streaming water from her wand (and concentrating on making it hot, as they had only just learned in class and she needed practice) when someone approached her. She knew it was Severus when they were smooth enough to not make her jump.

"Hello," he said, and it scared her that it sounded like small talk. It shouldn't be small talk. They were friends.

However, there was a much larger problem at hand. Lily could never, ever be afraid of Severus. Even when he was upset, she could handle it. She'd done it before.

Instead, she was very afraid of Slytherin House, and of the Prophet's recent reports, and the fact that she and Severus just seemed to drift farther and farther apart.

But she settled on, "Hi. How are you?"

"Okay. Herbology was rough today. Those plants are ridiculous."

Lily giggled. "I liked today's lesson."

"You always do." Severus sat, reaching over for some tea, himself. "How was Arithmancy?"

She looked him in the eye. "That maths are going to kill me, Sev." And then she smiled. "But it was fun."

"Avery said it was difficult." There it was again. Those friends of his. The same ones who had been in trouble multiple times for attempting, and sometimes succeeding in, dark magic. Lily tried not to let her disappointment show, but it must have. "Look, I know you don't like them, but…"

"But what? When's the last time we talked like this? We rowed about them over a month ago, and it was weeks before that. They're driving us apart. They're turning you into someone I don't know."

Severus grew cold instantly. She had known he would. "Well then perhaps, you don't know me at all." All at once, he was gone.

Two months later to the day, Lily's heart was ripped from her chest. She felt torn in two. She felt betrayed, and defeated, and it was insane how much was cost with just one word.

"Mudblood."

Some words mean nothing. That word means everything.

She saw him scarcely from then on, and things could never be the same.

They reunited many, many years later, in the place that is meant to be paradise. No more conflict and no more sorrow.

There were so many others the day he arrived, and Lily and James had spent the day mourning but, nonetheless, thrilled that their son had survived.

And Lily had watched and listened and knew it all. But she still felt as if she didn't know Severus. Not like she used to. Not after all these years.

At the moment he arrived, Lily rushed to him but stopped before she came too close. Her breath caught. "Thank you," she said quietly.

Severus smiled at her.

Lily returned it.