A/N: Again, unedited. I just... wrote it. I have to do something for school, I shouldn't have even written this. But there you go.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters in it.
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January 30, 1970
"Sev!"
From his position on the old swing, he looked over and his face lit up. The little girl was hurrying towards him, free of her sister and the playground was empty. Only Lily and Severus were there. Severus and Lily.
"Hey," he said when she plopped down on the swing to his left. "How are you?"
Lily grinned, showing a mouth full of teeth... well, most of her teeth, anyway. "Guess what," she whispered.
He knew it wasn't bad, or else she wouldn't be smiling. It couldn't have to do with the fact that it had snowed last night, because Lily showed a dislike towards the cold weather. She was bundled up in a thick coat, with snow boots and wooly mittens and a scarf. Severus's outfit consisted of his grey overcoat and thin clothes, but he was used to the cold, so it didn't matter.
"What?" he whispered back, eyebrows raised.
"Come on," she protested. "Guess, guess! Guess what!"
Severus rolled his eyes and shrugged. She seemed very excited, which must have meant she got a kitten. Right?
"You got a kitten?" he asked. She'd been excited to get one for Christmas, but was disappointed by the lack of cuddly creatures.
Lily shook her head and bit her lip, bouncing on the seat of the swing anxiously. "Nope! Guess again!"
"You... got a puppy?"
"Noooo, Sev- come on, think think think!"
"Err... you... finally got rid of the Christmas tree?"
Lily opened her mouth to say something, closed it again, and laughed. "Well, yes," she admitted. "But- but that's not what I was getting at! Okay, okay- one more guess, pleeeease?"
He sighed. Those green eyes were so electrifying. "I don't know, Lily. What, think I can read minds? I mean, once we're at Hogwarts, yeah, but- but I don't know. You can't have gotten your letter, not until next year... right?"
"Alright," Lily said finally. "Alright, you aren't going to get it." She sounded a bit disappointed. Severus couldn't help but lose his own excitement as well.
"Then you're going to tell me?" he asked, gripping the swing's chains a bit tighter.
"Fiiiiine. Okay, okay- i-it's... it's my birthday!" And there was that grin again, that childish grin full of that childish hope, because double digits were a big deal, and now she was the same age as Severus.
He could feel his face drain of colour, and was at a loss for what to say. Her birthday! He had told her when it was his, and she gave him a little card with sweets. It was the best birthday he'd had, even though Eileen had tried to make them all perfect.
What can I get for her? he thought frantically. This was bad. Really bad. Her birthday! Oh, how could he be so stupid? Of course it was her birthday! She'd told him, when they were just becoming friends, that her birthday was in January. What could he buy with no money? Oh god. Oh god god god.
"H-Happy birthday!" Severus said nervously, swallowing nothing from his dry mouth.
"Thanks," she sang, standing up and offering him a hand. "Sooooo... What are you going to do for me?"
He turned red, and stammered, "W-well I didn't know that- that it-"
Lily giggled and pulled him into a hug, which only caused more stutters. "Oh, please, Sev- you don't have to buy anything for me." She took a step back, still holding his hand. "We should do something."
"What about your family?" he asked stupidly.
"Ohh, you ruined it," Lily chided playfully. "We're going out for supper, and I was going to invite you."
Oh, great. She would buy something for him? That was all backwards.
"I-I couldn't," he muttered.
Lily's face fell. "Well. Why not?" she asked. "It would be fun!"
Did she actually want him to come? Or not? They were best friends, but...
"Err- I- w-well, okay, if... if that's what you want..."
She squeezed his hand and let go. "Great! It'll be so much fun. We can go to my faaaavorite restaurant, and share a milkshake just like Lucy and Finn!"
"Sounds wonderful," he laughed, wondering what a milkshake tasted like. Probably sweet- probably too sweet. But sharing anything with Lily was better than the world.
"What do you want to do before that?"
"What?"
"You know," Lily said. "Like, do you want to hang out here? Run around in the woods and pretend that we're werewolves? Not hang out until tonight? What?" She'd been getting into the habit of saying "hang out" rather than "play," which, in her opinion, was too old for anyone above the age of eight.
Severus grinned. "We could pretend we're werewolves," he joked.
"Okay," Lily said happily, turning on her heel to face the woods. "Let's go! Awwooooooo!"
He laughed, and shook his head. "I was- Lily, I was joking!" he called after her, but she was already halfway to the woods. "Wait up!" he yelled, running to catch her.
She giggled and ran faster, but was no match to the boy's longer stride. He was running alongside her in no time, and howled into her ear.
Five minutes of running was enough, but collapsing in the snow and building up walls around themselves was fun- almost as fun as tossing a big fat snowball into Severus's face.
"Okay," he gasped. "Okay- I surrender, Lily. I s-surrender..."
She grinned, and crawled closer to him. "Fine. I win, then."
"Yeah, I know- I surrendered."
"Hmm," she murmured. "That was fun. Best birthday ever."
"I-it's only two o'clock, Lily!" he stammered, blushing again.
"I know," she replied, grinning wickedly. Severus felt his heart drop. He knew that look. "But maybe it will be the best birthday ever. It has been so far."
"Well," he said cautiously. "Maybe it will be."
"But then you have to make next year even better. And then the next year even better- it's your job, Sev~"
He rolled his eyes. "Of course, your highness."
"And I'll make your birthdays great, too."
He nodded. "Thanks."
"Are you sure?"
"Promise.
"Promise?"
"Yes, my lord."
That was enough for her. She placed her mittened hand into his blue fingers and smiled. "Forever and ever."
A/N: Heheheheee Kuroshitsujiii~