Severus Snape yawned. It was much too early in the morning to walk about his small, run-down, shithole of a town, but he had to get away from the arguing. His mother and father had been at each other's throats- more than usual- for a week now. Mostly, his father was simply angry about the quality of his breakfast. He said Severus' mother had been using magic to make his oatmeal and grapefruit (she never did; she knew he was terrified of the wizarding world), and Severus could not stand any more of his father's outrageous claims. Who would waste something just to transfigure it into a grapefruit? Come on.

He shoved this all out of his mind, his long legs moving toward the old, slightly dangerous playground he and his former best friend used to frequent. He looked about the place, mourning the loss of one of the most pure people in his life, Lily. It had been his fault; he caused the rift between them to widen until their relationship crumbled, only by uttering one foul word. Now, however, he tried to cover that event up, cover Lily up, because he knew he would never have her again. He had loved her, yes. They had been close, yes. But now Severus would be elated to be even distant acquaintances. Now, in her eyes, he didn't exist.

The only other person, female or male, whom he regarded important enough as Lily, was his mother, and lately, he was beginning to think she was losing any spirit his father hadn't beaten out of her just because she was so exhausted. He couldn't blame her. Severus' fury toward his father was getting stronger every passing minute. Inside, he was hot iron, rage, tragedy, a time bomb waiting for the countdown to reach zero. There was part of Severus that could not wait for the inevitable fight with his father- he was almost as tall as him, but nowhere near as burly. But there was another side of him that could not stand to see his mother hurt, because she knew she would be, if he severed ties with his father.

Severus walked into town, past the early-morning workers rushing to their jobs, and into the church. He found the time displayed on the antique, ornate clock that graced the church wall. Five o' clock. He could've sworn it was at least seven. No matter- he could handle himself. He plopped onto a bench, thankful he had grabbed his warmest clothes, as well as a scarf and mittens- all silver and green, of course.

He was infinitely glad he was returning to school the next day, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for his sixth year. It was his home. Of course, he was still ridiculed and humiliated, but at least it wasn't at the hands of his father or at the end of a belt. He was thankful for that. Severus was also slightly, but only very, very slightly relieved that Lily wasn't able to watch him surrender to his…darker curiosities. He studied the Dark Arts intensively, learning spells and hexes that only Aurors should be aware of. A boy of sixteen should not have even had access to many of the texts he buried himself in. The Restricted Section of the Hogwarts library is deceptively easy to break into.

Severus was fantastic in all his courses, especially Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts (understandably), but he focused on the latter, and was starting to think of not simply defending. His Slytherin friends will be very impressed with his knowledge, he thought, rather pompously. He smiled to himself, then drew his brow together, his mood changing rather drastically. "She'd realize," he mused, "and she'd think I was…one of them. But, Lily has no say in this! She knew who I am. She already made her choice, well, I kind of made it for her. I did say I was sorry, I'd say it a thousand times; I harbor such feelings, carry so much guilt, ugh, I'm weak. She's…I miss her. But if we were to become closer again…I'm a curious person, and if she thinks I'll give up my studies then she's got another thing coming-"

Severus halted his rant-like train of thought. There she was. Red hair flowing over her dark green Muggle peacoat, her body petite and slender, oh yes, that was her. Her back was toward Severus, thankfully, because he immediately blushed and stared. No. He would not be weak this time. Instead, he reached into his coat to fetch his reading book, Ancient Wizards and their Contributions, from the inside pocket. Thank God for undetectable expansion spells.

He pretended to read. Eventually, Lily turned from examining her chapped lip in a shop window (they were deliciously red today, Severus noticed, and then immediately berated himself for thinking so) and her eyes turned from sparkling from the beauty of the pure snow, to a dark, stormy green when she saw Severus and his…soft, slightly flowing black locks about his face, reading. "Hmph," she thought coldly, " Looks like someone found out how to use shampoo."

In a shadowed corner of her mind, she knew that with his long legs, his clean, ebony hair, and his broadened shoulders, he was handsome. Even his nose had become proportional- finally. He had a certain long-faced aristocratic air about him; he looked like a man. She knew it was an awful idea to reconnect with him, but she thought she could handle one small conversation without changing much. Lily had to interact with him- just to see if the differences continued into his personality.

She sat down on the bench, after clearing off the small mountain of snow next to Severus, and stared at the side of his face, intending to wait until he was ready to speak to her. Lily knew he was aware of her presence, so she waited.

Severus fought for control. He wanted to rage, scream at her to leave, because she had betrayed her so. She should've gotten over the word he'd uttered, but Potter? Potter?! Lily, really? He's been nothing but a nuisance…but to each their own, he supposed. Whatever. She was no longer his concern. However, he thought it would not be terrible to speak to her once again…

"Lily," he drawled, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

God, he's touchy, she thought. "Severus. What brings you to town so early?"

"I get up rather early often."

"Oh," Lily said, and after a few strained seconds, she found something to say, "how is your family?"

He glared at her. That was his business. "Less than ideal."

"Oh, Sev, I'm sorry," she said, in her pitying, and utterly annoying way.

"You should not call me that silly nickname," he spat.

"I understand."

"Quite," he growled.

"I'm sorry." Lily made a face. Why was she apologizing to him? This made no sense. All she wanted right now was to assuage his pain; but…it was he who wronged her, he who drove her to James!

"And I am, as well," he said in a low voice, a new voice to Lily.

"I know you are."

"It makes no sense, then, why you would not reinstate our friendship once you decided so?" he looked at her, finally. He saw a flicker of an emotion he could not decipher flash through her eyes.

"I was with James. He was quite…possessive." Her gaze traveled to Severus' large footprints in the snow.

Severus became very still. He moved his hand to grasp her chin, and turned her face toward his. She made no move to pull away.

"Did he hurt you?" Severus' eyes were full of pain, and anger. No matter how he felt about Lily, he would always protect her. He vowed that to himself long ago.

Her eyes tried to look anywhere but into his. "Not hurt, exactly-"

"What did he do?" Severus said, panicking inside.

"He would simply…forbid me to do things…withhold things…"

"I'll kill him." He released her, a bit roughly.

"Severus, please don't," she pleaded. "I want nothing more to do with him, and if we're to be friends again (she hadn't realized she wanted it so much, but she realized she needed him), I don't want him at all involved. In any way. Got it?"

"Understood," he said, blankly. They were friends? When did that happen? He wasn't complaining, but he wasn't sure what he thought about it, either. And she's not…not with Potter? This was his moment. Not now, but soon. He loved her so much, but he could control it now. He had the power for once, and he would never relinquish it.

"Accompany me to the train tomorrow?" he asked.

"Absolutely," she confirmed, a beautiful smile blossoming across her face.