Live to Surprise
Dedicated to PurplePrincess77
Severus felt, rather than heard, Lily Evans approach him as he sat on the window-ledge of the Astronomy Tower. He didn't even have to look round to know for sure it was her; he had memorised her walking pattern, he could hear her breathing. Most importantly, he could smell her unique scent carried through the air, that interesting combination of cinnamon, musk and an altogether more fruity tone. He couldn't identify it, even with his keen sense of smell, but it was something which was distinctly her.
He continued to look out of the window, and listened to her quite footsteps as she approached. Without saying a word, she came right up behind him and pushed a small hand into his.
Severus couldn't help himself; he had to respond. "Lily, you're freezing," he said, wrapping his fingers around hers. She pushed herself closer to him, and he turned towards her slightly so he could pull her tiny frame to sit next to him on the ledge, and loop his arm around her.
"Of course I am," Lily replied with a small smile. "It's the middle of the night, in December, at the top of the stone Astronomy Tower."
Lily leaned her body into Severus' and she felt his chest vibrate against her cheek as he chuckled gently. "Still," he replied, and she felt his breath tickle the top of her head, "Still, you are the fiery Gryffindor, you should be eternally warm."
"And you, oh miserable dungeon bat, should be all cold and nasty, but you're not; you are toasty warm," the redhead replied. "So I guess we live to surprise."
Severus' lips quirked into a small smile. "I suppose we do."
He pressed his lips to Lily's hair, relishing in the softness of the gentle auburn waves. She shivered, then slipped an arm around his back. He marvelled, not for the first time, at how Lily could bear to be so close to him. She had described him very aptly when she'd referred to him as the 'miserable dungeon bat'; that was how most viewed him, and everyone kept their distance, even his fellow Slytherins and Death Eaters.
Everyone except Lily; the girl who had captured his attention right from the start, before they had even come to Hogwarts and everything had become far more complicated, before they were Sorted into rival houses, before that James Potter set eyes on her...
She still cared about him, she still wanted to be friends with him, even after nearly five years of the powers that be trying to separate them, since they arrived at the school for the very first time on the Hogwarts Express, both wide-eyed with awe and innocence of the prejudice that would engulf them both, more than either of them expected.
He was still musing over this fact, closing his eyes slightly as a wave of nostalgia struck him, when he felt Lily shifting in his arms. Raising his head to look at her, he found his dark eyes met her bright green ones as she looked up at him and smiled.
"What're you thinking, Sev?" she asked curiously.
"Who says I was thinking at all?"
Lily smirked playfully. "I could hear the gears of your brain whirring and clunking."
Severus shook his head, a smile playing on his lips. "I think very silently, thank you very much," he murmured, prodding Lily in the side with the hand that was holding her against his lap. She squealed and wriggled a little, but much to his surprise, she didn't get up. If anything, she snuggled closer.
"Well, do you mind me interrupting your silent thinking? Y'see, I was doing some thinking myself..."
"Ah, so the whirring and clunking could have been your brain working."
"Oh, shut up! Anyway, I was thinking, and...well, I was wondering something."
"And what, pray tell, were you wondering, Miss Evans?" Severus replied teasingly. Merlin, this girl brought out the best in him. He wasn't normally in this playful a mood during his regular visits to the Astronomy Tower.
"I was wondering, what it was like...to do this."
And before Severus even had a chance to react, Lily's lips were on his, softly pushing against him. He stayed frozen for a few seconds, purely out of shock. He felt Lily stiffen and begin to pull away, and it was as if something clicked in his mind.
He placed his hand on Lily's cheek and pulled her closer before she could pull away any more, and he felt her relax into the kiss. She sucked gently on his bottom lip; he opened his mouth almost instinctively, and her smell and taste overloaded his senses. It was completely overwhelming; he had often thought about what it might be like to kiss Lily Evans, but nothing he had imagined had prepared him for this feeling of complete fulfilment and ecstasy.
Her hands had found their way to his hair, and she briefly acknowledged the fact that it wasn't greasy at all, unlike the description it had always been given, especially by the Marauders. But the thought was lost as she felt his hand, as warm as ever, pressing into the small of her back.
She pulled back, slightly breathless as she looked into his eyes, emerald locked onto onyx. "We shouldn't push it any further, Sev," she said, with a hint of regret. "Thank you, though."
Severus couldn't help but smile. "Was that all you were wondering, Miss Evans?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, referring to her words earlier.
She snorted, which was both indelicate but endearing at the same time. "Of course it wasn't," she said. "But like I said, we shouldn't push it. I think having my first kiss tonight is enough of an accomplishment."
Severus frowned a little, taken aback at her words. "Your first? Your first ever?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, it's all very amusing, Lily Evans has never been kissed, and she's gotten to the ripe old age of sixteen..."
Severus placed a finger on her lips. "There's nothing amusing about it. I'm just surprised...I would have thought there were plenty of people lining up to share a kiss with you."
"Yes, well, like I said, I live to surprise," she mumbled against his finger. He took his finger away, and she looked away, as if trying to decide whether to say something else or not. He saw in her body language that she had decided to share her thoughts. Taking a deep breath, she admitted shyly, still not making eye-contact, and with a blush rising over her cheeks, "And you're right...a lot of people have...well...approached me, but..." she lifted her gaze to his again. "But...I sort of always wanted to share my first kiss with you."
Severus stared, dumbfounded for a few milliseconds, before his brain kicked in. She had wanted to kiss him. She had wanted to kiss him. Lily Evans had wanted to kiss him.
He could see her anxiously waiting for a response, biting her lip as she tried to read his facial expressions. When he said nothing, she quietly murmured, "Sev?"
She relaxed a little as she saw him smile ever so slightly. "Well, like you say, you live to surprise," he said. After a pause, in which Lily continued to look a little unsure at his reply, he continued. "Shall I surprise you a little now?"
She nodded. Severus bent down until his lips were grazing her ear.
"Until tonight, I'd only ever been kissed in my dreams..." he whispered. "But in all of those dreams, the only person who had ever kissed me was you."
He felt her shiver, and then he sat up so she could turn to face him. "Really?" she asked softly, the blush never fading. He nodded. "Well," she said with a shy smile. "I suppose we really do live to surprise."
She surprised him once more as she pulled him in for another kiss. But then, Severus didn't think Lily would ever cease to surprise him.
~Fin~
A/N: So just a bit of light Snily fluff for you there, I hope you liked! I think this scene fits best set in their fifth year, before the whole "Mudblood" incident. I apologise if they seem a little OOC, but that's just how I see them at this age.
This might turn out as a series of one-shots...what do you say to that idea?
Reviews make me very happy xx
