To meet again: A Lily and Severus story

A/N: I DO NOT OWN LILY OR SEVERUS! They belong to J.K. Rowling. Short one shot inspired by the seventh chapter of Molly Raesly's story Severus found on . Also inspired by The Prince's Tale in the Deathly Hallows.

Severus sighed into the late afternoon as he walked into the park that he had visited so often in his youth. He smiled slightly at the memories as he strode towards the old swing set where he had first seen her. Lily. Severus smiled sadly as he sunk onto a swing and looked at the ground. He smelled the hauntingly familiar perfume then the swing beside him was occupied. He looked up to see her looking at him, smiling sadly.

"Lily" Severus breathed quietly.

"Hello, Severus." Lily said just as quietly.

"Thank you for agreeing to see me. I hope you are well?" Severus said, trying not to betray any emotion in his voice.

"You asked me to come see you, Severus. I had no reason to refuse. Yes, I am as well as I could hope, and you?" Lily said softly.

"Yes. I heard that you got married recently. My congratulations." Severus said coldly. Lily sighed softly

"Yes, I did. Thank you." Lily whispered.

"Why him? Of all people, you chose him? Why, Lily?" Severus asked desperately looking into Lily's eyes that he loved so much.

"Because I love him and he loves me back. He's a good man and he'd do anything for me as I would do for him. I know you hate him and you have good reason to, but he really is a good man." Lily murmured looking at Severus.

"But I love you! I loved you first! Please, Lily…" Severus whispered looking desperately at her.

" I love you too. But not like I love him. I'll always love you Severus. You were my first and very best friend. But it would have never worked between us, Severus. You love something that is destroying the lives of people like me and my family. I know you hate muggles because of how Tobias treated you and your mother, but he was just one person Severus. The dark arts are causing millions of people to die. I'm so so sorry." Lily said bowing her head at the last sentence.

"I'm sorry too, Lily. I never ever meant to hurt you." Severus said, taking Lily's hand around the chain of her swing.

"You can still get out of it, Severus. You can go see Dumbledore and tell him you never meant to hurt anyone. I'll go with you. We'll get through this together. I'll stay beside you while you talk to him, for moral support." Lily said looking at Severus with her eyes shining.

"No, Lily. I can't. The Dark Lord will hunt me down and kill me. It's not as easy as you think it is. I just wish I could go back in time and never join in the first place. I so wish that we could go back to childhood, just you, me, and this park." Severus hung his head, still holding Lily's hand.

" I do too, Severus. I did love you once like you want me to. But you are so obsessed with something that is destroying so many lives. I'm sorry, Sev." Lily whispered, tears in her eyes now.

Severus was dumbfounded.

"You loved me? I screwed everything up with my obsession? We could have been together. But I managed to screw that up , like everything else in my life…" Severus whispered in anguish.

Lily got off her swing and knelled before Severus, taking his face in her hands.

"I still do love you, just not the way you want me to. I'm so sorry. Try to move on and be happy, Severus. I want you to be happy." Lily murmured. Lily reached up, cupping Severus's face in her hands, she kissed him very softly on the mouth. Severus treaded his fingers in Lily's hair and kissed her back desperately.

Lily pulled away and kissed his forehead softly.

"Goodbye, Severus." Lily whispered as she stood and Severus looked up at her.

"Goodbye, Lily. " Severus whispered finally, but Lily was already halfway across the park, tears running down her face.

Severus sighed deeply and stood too. He walked back out of the park and didn't turn back as much as he wanted to, for one last glimpse of happier time.