Lily Evans had been home for a total of 7 days and already she was praying for the end of summer. Yes she liked the break from all the work but her older sister Petunia was driving her crazy. One moment Petunia would be screeching at her the next she would be very sisterly. Normally to get away from her hot-and-cold attitude Lily would spend the entire summer with her best friend Severus Snape, but after what he said to her she couldn't even bring herself to look at him.
"Are you even listening to me?" Petunia snapped at her. Lily was shaken out of her thoughts and looked up from the kitchen table to look at her sister eye to eye.
"I'm sorry." Lily said monotonously. "What were you saying?"
Petunia let out a frustrated sigh and sat herself down in the chair next to Lily.
"I said David from down the street is having a party and I need you to come with me."
"Why?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"Because Vernon will be there and I don't want to look like a loser by being there alone." She explained in an exasperated voice. Lily nodded her head.
"Alright." she agreed. "But I'll have to borrow some of your clothes since I don't have much muggle clothing." Petunia scrunched up her nose.
"I doubt any of them would fit you." She replied snottily. Lily rolled her eyes and stood up from her seat at the table.
"You're right. I have breasts and hips while you still have the body of a 13 year-old boy." Lily retorted with a wide smile that showed off her pearly white teeth and slightly dimpled cheeks.
Petunia glared at her sisters retreating form and angrily bit off a piece of her buttered toast.
The girls had less than 5 minutes left to get ready and Petunia still couldn't decide what she was going to wear. Lily could have sworn that she had seen her in every article of clothing that she owned.
"What do you think of this?" Petunia asked as she stepped out of her closet. Lily looked up again and tried not to laugh. Her sister had on the most repulsive white and pink dress that went down to her calves.
"Well do you like it?" Lily asked with a slight tilt of her head. Petunia smiled lovingly upon the dress and nodded.
"I love it." She said. "And I think that Vernon will, too."
Then Petunia spun around to inspect her sister from head to toe.
"Is that what you're wearing?" She questioned Lily with an air of disgust. Lily clenched her jaw tightly and tried her best to stay calm.
"I am." She confirmed. "Why? What's wrong with it."
Petunia continued to look at the outfit which consisted of a plain black skirt and a simple emerald green blouse. Nothing over the top in Lily's opinion.
"Nothing's wrong with it." Petunia answered in an arrogant tone and turned to open her bedroom door. "Unless you want the boys there to think you're easy."
Lily's mouth dropped in shock.
"Excuse me?" She said sharply but Petunia cut her off.
"Well, there's no time for you to get changed now. Just hurry up so we can tell mum and dad we're leaving."
Lily followed her sister down the stairs in a huff and into the sitting room where their parents were.
"Mum, dad?" Petunia said and waited until both faces were looking at her. "Lily and I are going to Elizabeth's house for that party I told you about."
Lily looked at Petunia with her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
"Elizabeth?" Lily asked under her breath but was met with a fierce look.
"Alright, sweethearts." Mrs. Evans responded and went back to doing the crossword puzzle in the newspaper. "Be back before 11."
"Yes, mum." Both girls agreed and started towards the door.
"Oh, Lily!" Mr. Evans' voice stopped them in their tracks.
"Yes dad?"
"Don't you think that outfit is a little too revealing?" Lily's face turned red and Petunia looked smug.
"Mum!" She called out. Her mother dropped the newspaper again and looked her youngest daughter.
"Charles, she looks fine." Lily smiled brightly.
"Thanks, mum." With that she quickly made her way outside with Petunia in tow.
"I told you." Petunia said. Lily ignored her and kept her eyes ahead.
They walked for a couple minutes before they reached their destination.
"Lily if anyone asks you've been at an all girls boarding school in Scotland." Petunia informed her as she wiped invisible wrinkles from her dress and raised her boney hand to knock on the door.
Without hesitation the door swung open and in the doorway stood a tall blonde haired guy that Lily assumed was David after he and Petunia greeted each other.
"And who is you're lovely friend?" He asked. His gaze on Lily made her squirm uncomfortably.
"This is my younger sister, Lily." Petunia introduced. "Lily, this is David,"
"Hello." Lily greet politely and shook his hand.
"Come in, come in!" He said ushering them in.
Lily looked around and saw maybe 20 people. Some party.
"Can I get you ladies something to drink?" David asked with his eyes still on Lily, or more specifically Lily's chest.
"I'll take a water." Petunia answered and then looked at her sister warningly. Lily smiled slyly in return.
"David, do you have any alcohol?" David eyes sparked with glee and he nodded.
"Yeah. Why don't you follow me to the kitchen." David started walking to the door and Lily began to follow him until she felt someone tug on her arm.
"Are you crazy?" Petunia whispered franticly. "You can't drink, mum and dad will kill you!"
Lily removed her arm from Petunia's grasp and shrugged.
"You coming, Lily?" David's voice called from over the music as he stood in the doorway.
"Yeah!" Lily called back and left Petunia standing there alone.
Lily stumbled outside with a bottle of dark liquor that she stole from the liquor cabinet and thanked Merlin that David was a lightweight and passed out. Him making passes at her every bloody second was really starting to get on her nerves.
Taking a large swig out of the bottle, and wincing at how strong it was, Lily looked around for something to do. Going home wasn't an option because she was piss ass drunk and she didn't want to deal with her parents, Petunia was still in David's house talking to Vernon, who arrived shortly after the girls got there, and she didn't have any muggle friends. But then her eyes lit up. She may not have had any muggle friends but she did have a friend in the muggle world. Well, ex-friend, but small details like that didn't bother the inebriated Lily.
It was dark out and since she was going to the shadier side of town she took the shortcut to Spinner's End. It wasn't long before Lily was standing in front of the run-down house of the Snapes'. She had been there so many times to see Severus that she knew the route like the back of her hand.
There was a light on in the kitchen and she could see the glow of the television coming from his living room so she knew that his parents were still up. Lily had never formally met them and even in her current state knew it wouldn't be wise just to knock on the front door. Instead, she walked to the side of the house and looked up at the window that led to Severus's bed. She dropped the liquor bottle and began gathering pebbles to throw one by one at his window. After throwing a few of the rocks, a light when on in the room and Lily immediately stopped and waited.
Severus Snape appeared at the window, wand in hand, and looked furiously down to see who the source was. His look softened and became confused when he saw the figure of Lily, the girl who had been ignoring him and his endless apologies for the past two months.
He hastily opened his window and called out in a soft voice, "What are you doing here?"
"Come out!" Lily whispered backed and motioned him with her hand.
Without hesitation he responded, "I'll be right there."
Lily sighed and plopped herself down on the dewy grass. She scanned the small area for the bottle she dropped not that long ago and saw it nowhere in sight.
"Hi." Severus said as popped into her view and sat in front of her, head down.
"Hey, old mate!" She greeted cheerily with a wave. "How have you been?"
Severus face, that had held slight hope and happiness just moments ago, fell into a look of hurt.
"Are you drunk?" He asked and leaned forwards to see if he could smell the alcohol on her. He could and it was very strong.
"What?" Lily asked incredulously and waved him off. "No! No, I just had a bit of that stuff." She pointed in the direction of where she thought the bottle was, but Severus didn't take his eyes off her.
Severus stayed quite. He wanted to ask her why she was there but he was just happy that she was there and didn't want to upset her and have her leave.
"Tuney dragged me to this boring party so she could meet up with this REALLY large guy that she's dating or something." Lily said into the silent night. "And I thought 'Hey why don't I cure my boredom by hanging out with that jerk I use to like.'"
"Lily, I said I was sorry." Severus said weakly. Lily looked at him and saw his pain. She eased up and crawled closer to him.
"Did you mean it?" She asked somberly. Severus finally looked up and into her eyes and felt his heart start to beat faster.
"When I said sorry?" He asked and Lily quickly nodded. "With all my heart. I've been kicking myself every moment since it happened."
Lily looked away and into the darkness. When she looked back at him, he could see tears start to well up in her eyes.
"I cried myself to sleep that night." She said in a whisper. Severus felt his fast beating heart clench in pain. Everything he did was to impress her. The last thing he ever wanted to do was cause her pain. He reached out for her hand that laid in her lap and gently held it.
"Lily?" Severus said in a controlled, confident tone. Lily looked at him and waited for him to continue.
"I love you." He stammered out in a rush. He didn't know what made him finally say it but he was certain that Lily being drunk and probably not being able to remember this conversation in the morning had a part to play. Lily's eyebrows raised in surprised.
"Like a friend?" Her bewildered voice slurred. Severus swallowed hard and shook his head 'no'.
"I mean, I've been in love with you since I was 11 years-old." Silence fell upon them again. Severus felt as if every second going by was a lifetime.
"Well," Lily cleared her throat. "Are you going to ask me out?"
Severus smiled brightly and let out a rare laugh.
"How about I take you home first and we'll see if you remember any of this in the morning." Severus stood up and reached down to help Lily do the same.
"Oh shit, I'm going to have such a hangover." Lily groaned sleepily.
"Don't worry, I'll bring you a potion tomorrow." Severus said and placed Lily's arm around his shoulders so she wouldn't stumble or fall.
The two of them slowly started towards Lily's house when Severus asked, "So Petunia has a boyfriend?"
Lily let out a thunderous laugh and replied, "You should see him! He's worse than the last."