Dusk
He was sitting under the beech tree when she came, an unidentifiable expression settled over her features. Neither acknowledged the other: she merely sat down beside him, drew her knees to her chest, and gazed at the layered sunset on the Hogwarts grounds. A few strands of hair spilled out from behind her ear, but she paid them no mind; he wondered if she, like he, so badly yearned to break the silence.
She did not.
Severus's sigh was inaudible for both their sakes as his mind reeled over the day's events—no, only over the strange feeling of triumphant defeat that had settled so convincingly into the pit of his stomach. Was this what it was like, regret? It had been a long time since he last bothered paying attention to what had come of the past five years…
"Talked to James Potter today," Lily said finally, but the tension only grew further. "He's all right when you get past the arrogance."
Severus did not reply, toying idly with a few dying blades of grass.
"It's what you want, isn't it?"
He turned to face her, surprised, and pushed his greasy hair out of his eyes. "Excuse me?" he asked coolly and wondered when his voice had grown so icy.
Lily didn't meet his eyes. "The Dark Arts."
He shrugged, still watching her intently, and hoped she'd caught the gesture.
"It's all right if you do," she said reluctantly but without further emotion in her words. "Shouldn't matter to me anymore."
"I'm sorry," Severus mumbled, a pink tinge rising in his cheeks. "I shouldn't have—"
Lily dug into her bag for a moment, hiding her face, and pulled from it (he raised an incredulous eyebrow) a stick of eyeliner. "Couldn't find a quill," she muttered bashfully and tugged up his sleeve gently. Looking momentarily baffled by the Dark Mark on his forearm, Lily quickly doodled beneath it a small, soft-edged doe.
"If you change your mind, you'll know where to find me," she said.
And she was gone.
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A/N: August 2009 edits include a few tweaks to word choice/sentence structure and a change in Lily's reaction to the Dark Mark—after all, during the First War, it wouldn't have been recognized. Review!