Several Sunlit Days
"Severus! Severus" she stood at the top of the hill, waiting for him, her reddish blond hair blowing in the wind. She laughed as she watched him running to him. "I'm so glad you're here! See what I found?" She opened her hand and a flower delicately floated above her palm. "Isn't it beautiful?"
He pretended not to be as awed by her magic, merely shrugging. "I can do that," he sniffed.
She laughed again and twirled around and around until she fell to the ground giggling. "Can you do this?" She rolled onto her stomach. She wasn't smiling now. "Petunia called me names again," she said. "But I don't care!"
He didn't believe her for one minute. Lily Evans lived for her older sister's approval and it hurt her when she hit her or called her 'freak'.
"She's just jealous because you're a—because you can do magic and she can't." He sat down cross legged next to her. Severus knew exactly what it meant to be called a freak. Once his father realized his mother was different, his drunken goal in life was to make his wife and son's lives a living hell. Severus's only respite was the times he spent with Lily; sunlit days among the stormy ones, as she called it. Today was one of several sunlit days. Severus was her rock, her refuge from a sadistic sister whose jealousy made her life a living hell as well.
"What have you learned today?" she asked him.
He grinned mischievously. "Ah," he said. "I found this in my new potions book. It's an elixir that can turn a person's face blue. Let's try it on Petunia."
"That would be mean!" she said.
"So what? She's mean to you," he countered.
She giggled then sighed. "That's true. We could talk about doing it even though we never would," she giggled again.
"She deserves it," Severus said.
"But she's my sister and I do love her."
"I don't understand how you could love that cow," he said.
Lily threw him a horrified look and struggled to her feet. "I'm going home!" she cried. "My sister is not a cow."
He grabbed her arm. "Don't go, Lily. I only said that because I hate the way she treats you. I don't like it when you're unhappy."
"Don't call my sister a cow," she said haughtily, sitting back on the ground next to him.
He nodded soberly. "I promise."
"A calf, maybe—" she said exploding in a fit of giggles.
They spent the rest of the day together playing magical games and spying on her sister. Petunia was a bit of a control person and it amused them to watch her staging the rocks in their back yard neatly; not a single stone out of place. They watched as she ritualistically arranged the stones biggest to smallest. She grunted and sang and talked to herself. When she walked away to find another stone, Lily magically moved several of the rocks very slightly and they watched with glee Petunia's reaction when she returned.
They stayed on the top of the hill and watched the sunset together until the trees and houses became silhouettes and Lily's father called her name. "I love this time of day," she said, sighing happily. "This has been one of the best sunlit days. I shall always remember today. Goodbye, Severus. I'll see you tomorrow." She gave him a cheery wave as she ran down the hill. He stayed there for a longer time, absorbing the joy that always surrounded her. No one called for him. It was well past dark when he silently made his way home. He prayed his father was already asleep hoping to slip past him. The day had been too perfect to be ruined by the abusive drunk.
The rest of the summer was like that first day. It was his happiest times. Lily made him feel wanted and loved and dare he think it, hopeful. Lily cried when she had to go back to school, but Severus was delighted. She missed her parents and even her sister.
"We get to spend all our days together here, Sev," she explained. "I never see you at school. This summer has been perfect and I don't want it to end. You are my best friend and I wish it could always be like this."
"Sunlit days," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. He hoped she hadn't heard him.
She'd hope they would ride together to school on the Hogwarts Express, but once they arrived, several of Severus's Slytherin mates pulled him away. They didn't want to sit with a dirty Mudblood. Helplessly, Severus followed them. He offered her a weak smile, but she turned away, hurt and confused. Sirius and James, fellow Gryffindors who she really didn't like very much, steered her into a car full of Gryffindors and soon she was laughing and talking with her friends. Severus watched her from a distance, wishing he could say something to her.
He couldn't talk to her until a week later. He apologized over and over. He couldn't help it if his friends were brutes, but he certainly didn't feel that way himself. He begged her forgiveness, and finally she rewarded him with her smile. That evening they met at in the library and spent the rest of the evening together until Madam Pince ran them out. Before returning to their dorms, Severus asked her again if she truly forgave him and she smiled, "Yes, Severus, this has been one of my sunlit days. I'm so happy when we're together and not arguing about something."
Their year at Hogwarts was an adventure for both of them. Lily discovered that Sirius and James weren't complete idiots and they had a unique way at looking at the world. They were very badly behaved, but they made her laugh and without her friend Severus, that seemed to be enough. She made friends with the shy and mysterious Lupin, who seemed to be the only one of James's friends who had a lick of sense. He reminded her a lot of Severus because they were both dark and brooding. Lupin had secrets just like her friend, Severus, but, as with Sev, she never tried too hard to find out what those secrets were. She was content to have a friend who listened and made her feel protected.
Severus, on the other hand, loved being at Hogwarts. He excelled in his classes and people admired his natural talent for potions. He was at home in Slytherin. His mates were like-minded and he finally felt like he belonged. He missed seeing Lily, of course, but his school mates accepted him so he missed her less and less.
One day he passed her in the hall and she saw that she'd been crying. "What wrong?" he asked, alarmed.
"Nothing," she said, pushing him away. "Go back to your Slytherin buddies and leave me alone!"
He pulled her into an empty classroom and she fell into his arms. "I can't take it anymore!" she said, weeping louder. "I want to go home, Severus. Let's just run away. I miss my mum and dad so much and I even miss Petunia. All I get is grief and I want to go home!"
"What happened, Lily?" he asked feeling helpless. "What can I do?"
"Tell me I'm not a filthy Mudblood, that you like me."
Severus didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry, Lily. Don't listen to those people. You're not a Mudblood. You're my best friend and I'll always lov—like you. Please don't cry."
"Tell me that we'll always be friends and that all our days will be sunlit days. Tell me you'll always be there for me. I don't think I would ever live knowing you aren't in my life. Promise me!"
He was too stunned to move at first and then his awkwardly took her hand. "Of course I promise, Lily. We'll always be friends. You are my best friend. I'll always be there for you. Always."
She smiled, her beautiful green eyes shimmering with her tears. "Sorry I acted so strangely, but today was the absolute worst day of my life. Some of your Slytherin friends cornered me and keep harassing me and then James and Sirius laughed at me when I told them what happened. I think Sirius would have fought them, but James called me a baby. I needed a friendly face. I needed to talk to you. I wanted to be reminded of how wonderful our summers were back home. Promise that we'll be together forever. Thank you, Severus. I'm fine now."
He nodded and let her go. "I promise," he said.
As he passed from this life to the next he knew he'd fulfilled his promise to friend Dumbledore and by now Harry Potter would know what to do to destroy Voldemort. Severus Snape was going home. He dreamed of sunlit days with the warm sun on his face.
The pain was finally gone and he felt the sun on his face. All he had to do was turn toward the light and he knew she would be waiting for him and he would never be in the dark again.