Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to J. K. Rowling.
A/n: Story is a one-shot for 'the seven kisses challenge' from femme fetal.
Summary: A tale of the seven kisses that stayed with Severus his whole life and meant the world to him. One-shot containing mentions of one-sided Lily/Sev. Also contains some Sev/OC.
Snape's Seven Haunting Kisses
I. A Kiss Of Comfort
Eileen... for as long as Severus could remember, that was how he referred to his mother. Isolated as they were tucked away in Spinner's End, Severus didn't divulge much time thinking of the reason behind his calling his mother Eileen or why she didn't seem to care. But then again, apart from feeding him... Eileen was hardly present. Physically, he recalled she was always there, but in her mind she seemed so very far away.
The woman was not affectionate. Some would perhaps say she was actually rather neglectful. However, Severus couldn't blame her. Eileen escaped to a world all her own inside her head, much like he escaped into the world of books. Well, that is when they could. When Tobias, who he referred to contemptuously and against his will as Father, left them alone.
However, despite that all, the first kiss Severus ever recalled receiving, was from this sullen and yet enigmatic woman. In his mind, the event was hazy; due in combination of the fact that he was five or six at the time, and laid up in bed with a high fever. His consciousness had drifted in and out, and he had no concept of time due to his fevered mind.
The fever lasted about two days. As any time Severus was ill... Eileen had been there, mechanically going through the motions of nursing him back to health. It wasn't until the fever was lifting, in the drowsy hours of dawn, his eyes blearily opened and closed in the darkness of the room. He felt the oddest sensation of something softly sorting through his hair, and a dip on the side of his bed.
"You're not a dreamer like me, Sevy... but sometimes its the only place to get away from this," his mother said softly in the dark. Severus furrowed his brow as he opened his eyes, but his lids felt heavy and in the dark, he could barely see her silhouette anyway. He barely understood what Eileen was saying as she spoke softly and his mind was still somewhat heavy and fatigued. It rather sounded like she was carrying on a conversation with herself when he awoke, and blearily wondered how long she had been there.
Time seemed to be drifting quickly and still distortedly, as sometimes it felt slow. Severus soon found that he was awake, but rather than listening to what she was saying, he was only hearing the tone she spoke in. In all his life, if Eileen were not speaking in deadpan, the tone of voice she spoke in was usually fearful with tints of anger and bitterness, or resignation. But now, at this moment, it was almost wistful. He wasn't sure what it was about that, that comforted him, as he'd never been before.
He wished the moment would last, but it was a lesson he was beginning to learn at such a tender age, that nothing ever lasts. He could hear Tobias beginning to stir in the other room, and even in this nowhere between sleep and wakefulness, he could feel a bit of trepidation. He heard a sigh escape his mother and felt her shuffling off. He wanted to reach out, make this moment last, but he couldn't. His limbs felt heavy and the truth was... the fever was giving him a reprieve from Tobias.
The last thing he was conscious of, was the feeling of something soft and warm on his forehead, that spread throughout his small and convalescent body, healing all the aches and pain of his body and he felt, from his soul too.
II. A Kiss Of Friendship
The second kiss he ever received was from Lily Evans... a red-head, spirited girl that became the woman of all his life.
It was the most magical summer of all his life. The first time he saw her, swinging higher than any muggle girl, the bright summer sun's rays lighting her hair ablaze... he wondered if angels existed and if he just stumbled across one. Her giggle seemed to carry sunshine, that recalling it in the gloom of what he called home, seemed to light up his room.
For days he watched her... noting the magic inside the girl long before she ever showed proof of it. He couldn't look away from her, she was so dazzling, as if from a dream from the greatest dreamer... and he feared she'd disappear. When he was sure that she was a witch, he felt thrilled that they had common ground he could speak to her on, and when he had the courage to finally do so, he thought he could burst of happiness.
They built a tentative friendship, built from his adoration of her, and her curiosity of what she was. When she at last received her Hogwarts letter, proof that Severus was telling her the truth, she'd been so happy that she run to tell him, flinging her arms around Severus and kissing him on the cheek.
For days, Severus held his hand to his cheek, and felt the heat from her kiss. It was nothing more than a quick peck, but he'd never forget what it felt like.
III. A Kiss Of One-sided Love
School changed things. Severus thought that it would bring them closer together, but instead it slowly started to drift them apart. She was a Gryffindor, and a muggle-born, he really couldn't afford to be seen with her at school. Only when they could be alone together, out on the grounds or deep in the library, away from prying eyes.
It wasn't just Severus, though. He could see it in the way her friends looked at him from time to time, saw the way they whispered in Lily's ear, causing her to blush and look downcast. However, they both made the attempt, trying their best not to mind their peers. It wasn't easy... but Severus was willing to put up with all of it.
And they always had the park... summer, winter, and sometimes on the spring holidays, they made it there; sharing in a friendship no one seemed to approve.
It was until winter-break in their third year that Severus realized how much he truly cared about Lily. They'd both gone home for the holidays. Severus, not really wishing to be home on Christmas, went to the park and was sitting on the swing. He was startled when Lily came along, apparently after a fight she had with her sister.
Severus really couldn't recall much of what they talked about... perhaps he was too concentrated on watching Lily and how the light from the moon, reflected on the snow, made her face light up. How her cheeks were rosy from the cold, and her eyes sparkled with hints of melancholia and slight wonder.
He remembered thinking, how beautiful she looked, when he was startled out of his thoughts as she suddenly asked him, what he thought kissing felt like. Severus recalled shrugging and saying he never really thought about it, as he watched the column of her throat as she stared up. He thought she was looking towards the sky and was about to look up when she suddenly looked directly at him and froze him.
He felt his heart thundering as her eyes, sparkling emeralds set against snow-like skin, held his gaze. His stomach started twisting into knots as she smiled gently at him and started leaning in towards him. His eyes widened as she swiftly and gracefully closed the distance between them. He wanted to ask her what she was doing, but his throat had gone suddenly dry and then he felt the most wonderful sensation of all the world...
He knew his eyes had widened comically and he was looking at her face. Her eyes were closed and he could see her long, curly lashes laying softly against her cheek, as she pressed her lips to his. He could feel their softness against his; her lips were incomprehensibly warm, unlike his own. They were moist, and plump, and Severus wondered if he were dreaming as they lingered there for a moment.
And then they were gone. Severus could feel himself suddenly flushing horribly, as he sat frozen, rigidly and uncomfortably upright as he watched her pull away. She had a thoughtful look on her face as she momentarily smacked her lips and sat back, her hands covered in mitts grasping on the chains of her swing. Then she giggled. "You taste like lemons Sev," she said as she smiled at him, the way she always did. "Thanks for the talk, and everything Sev, you're a good friend," she said as she stood and gave him a one-armed hug before prancing away home.
Severus wasn't sure how long he sat their, immobile. His heart continued to pound as all his emotions and thoughts were in a turmoil. He felt something coiling tightly in his stomach that wasn't wholly unpleasant and he kept replaying in his mind the few seconds her lips had presses against his. Though the kiss was short, and chaste, it sent his entire being into an uproar, and for some time he wasn't sure which way was up.
He wondered why she had kissed him? He wondered why it meant so much to him? Why when it was so brief, he couldn't stop thinking about it? The answer came to him, and when he looked up towards the sky, he knew the answer would forevermore cause him great pain.
He loved her. The bar over head, crossing his vision which held up the swings and a sprig of mistletoe, told him that the feeling wasn't mutual. He thought he could hope for more, that the mistletoe didn't necessarily have to be the only reason she kissed him, but then he remembered her parting words. "You're a good friend". That was all he'd ever be to her. To wish or hope for more, would only hurt him in the long run. But hope... hope doesn't die so easily.
IV. A Kiss from the Wild-Child
Vivienne Brennan was one of the many girls in his year that Severus hated. What made things all the worse was that she was in his House.
He hardly remembered her in their early years at Hogwarts. She was for the most part quiet, though she always had a smile on her face. She wasn't particularly talented with magic, but she wasn't a disaster at it either. As for her grades... they were average... which was probably the best way to describer her, overall. She was of average height, of average intelligence, of average beauty and personality.
The only thing that seemed not average about her, was her stature. For their age and for her gender, she was diminutive in stature. She wasn't very tall by comparison to other girls, and she was on the slim side. Though she was not dangerously thin or sickeningly so, she was underweight. This made her an easy target of cruel jokes by other girls from nearly every house, and even by some boys, most especially Black and Potter.
However, things vastly changed their fourth year, when she became fed up, and people saw a mean streak to Vivienne they had never seen before. Severus wasn't really sure of the details, because he hadn't really cared at the time, all he knew was that it involved four, bald Gryffindor girls, with no hope of regrowing their hair in a magically accelerated manner and three Slytherin boys in the Hospital wing with their testicles retracted in their bodies. Apparently, Vivienne was suspended from school for two weeks, and only escaped being expelled because she had often been the victim of cruel jokes for four years.
After that, no one dared pick on Vivienne, and she felt the need to assert her newfound confidence at any opportunity, often disrupting class and getting a great deal of points docked. While Severus admired her spirit of retaliation, he was sick of the increasingly loud and boisterous girl, who always had a mischievous smile that he knew, even if no-one else did, never reached her eyes. He didn't think the girl ever DID smile or laugh genuinely. She was a fake and even her new bravado, was a sham and he was disgusted by it.
It was the reason that he was so disconcerted and then angry when in their fifth year, during Halloween, she simply waltzed over to him and kissed him on the lips. Severus had been in the Great Hall, pouring over a book and ignoring his untouched lunch, when a shadow was cast over his reading. He had turned to see who was obstructing his light, when his eyes clashed with a brown pair that almost looked like cinnamon. Dark-brown hair, almost as black as his own, curled in layered waves around Vivienne's thin and cute face. Her trademark, closed-lipped, mischievous smile curved her slightly plump and dark-pink lips.
He glared up at her and was in the middle of asking what the hell she wanted, when in one languid motion she held his face between her hands and pressed her lips to his. Severus watched wide-eyed as as her golden skin and dark hair obscured his vision. His mind was blank and he was wondering what the hell was going on when he suddenly felt her moving her lips slowly against his, her hands still gently holding him in place.
He recalled thinking that her hands were so soft and felt cool on his flushing cheeks. He also remembered thinking that her lips felt amazing, better tan silk of rose petals and realizing that the slow way they were moving against him, ghosting over his, was utterly heavenly. His last coherent thought was that this was unlike anything he ever felt as his eyes closed, unknowingly giving into the sensation.
He was startled when she took his bottom lip between hers and lightly sucked and nipped on it. He gasped and it wasn't until he heard the din of the Great Hall cutting through the lust induced fog in his brain, that he finally realized what was happening and that he loathed the girl that was doing it. Very quickly and somewhat regretfully, Severus shoved Vivienne away roughly. He could feel his face flushing horribly as he looked at her and heard people gossiping and ogling him. He was sure he was red as a tomato as he looked at her, the chit had the indecency to just smile and shrug at him.
"It was just a dare Snape, don't take it so personally," she said before whirling around. Being as she wasn't wearing her robes, and whirled around quickly, he caught the hem of her skirt ride up a little and saw a tantalizing bit of thigh before she pranced off and over to her friends.
Severus wanted to hex the girl into oblivion but decided to merely gather his things and storm out of the Great Hall. Unconsciously once out of the great Hall, he licked his lips and found that they now tasted sinfully sweetly, like sugar quills and strawberries.
V. A Possessive Kiss
For most of his fifth year, Severus took his hatred towards Vivienne to another level, actually leading to many arguments and disagreements between them on different occasions and with different reasons. If Snape had never been on Vivienne's radar before, he was now. He was sure, she grew to dislike him more and more as time went on. However, oddly, they had some sort of unspoken agreement to keep their little war to mere arguments and insults.
In a way, Vivienne was becoming an outlet for some of his frustration caused by the growing schism between himself and Lily. Fifth year, was full of unpleasantries, most of them concerning Lily and their estrangement, his irrational jealousy towards Potter in relation to Lily, being haunted by Vivienne's kiss earlier on in the year all the while hating her, the volatile and mutual hatred between he and Potter's crew and of course, OWLS.
The year ended disastrously in regard to his friendship with Lily. The schism between them made his arguments increasingly heated and intense with Vivienne. However, it also increased his obsession with dark-haired girl during their sixth year. To avoid thinking or even looking at Lily, he started focusing his attention on the Slytherin girl; though the words he mixed with Vivienne tended to be dark and hateful... she at least spoke to him.
Besides, though the girl was thin and shorter than some of the others in their year, she was pretty and attractive. At sixteen she was 5'3" and curvy enough to garner attention. Due to the fact that more often then not she'd forego wearing robes, it wasn't hard to see her smooth legs, her petite yet curvy rear, flat stomach, the enticing curve of her waist, and the small but still enticing slope of her chest. Unfortunately, and much to his annoyance, Severus wasn't the only one to notice.
To make matters all the worse, Sirius Black openly flirted with Vivienne whenever he could and Severus even caught Remus Lupin looking at Vivienne longingly. What was truly the icing on the cake, was that Vivienne enjoyed teasing Sirius. To Severus, it didn't matter that she didn't let Sirius touch her after she practically sent him very unsubtle signs to hang all over her, or that she never allowed him to kiss her, or that she once told Severus that the only reason she flirted with Sirius and did those things was to tease him with something she'd never give him just to get him back for the pranks he pulled on her in the past, he still felt sickeningly jealous of it all.
Severus was so focused on stalking Vivienne and Sirius, that he never realized that the true threat to whatever it was he had with Vivienne was not Black, but Lupin. Lupin, much to Severus' astonishment had been secretly tutoring Vivienne in Defense in the month leading up to exams before Christmas holidays.
At the end of their first Defense class after break, they were handed back their graded exams. Severus was so absorbed in this as they walked out of class, that he hardly took any notice of Vivienne. She walked right past him in the hall. He vaguely heard her call out Remus name, and it took him a moment to register that it was Vivienne. Looking him from his exam, he was just in time to see Vivienne practically fly into Remus's chest. He felt his fist clench and crumple his exam as he saw her arms slip around Lupin's neck. Lupin seemed as surprised as Severus was by this, but wasted no time in encircling the girls waist with his arms. "Thank you so much for tutoring me Remus! Look! I got a perfect score!" she said as she pulled out of his grasp and showed him her exam, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet in glee.
Remus blushed lightly in delight as he looked at her adoringly. "You don't have to thank me, it was all your effort Vi," Remus said modestly. Severus edged closer, glaring at the pair and when he was able to see her profile, he felt the pit of his stomach drop to see that for once, she was smiling genuinely. Smiling genuinely at a bloody Gryffindor!
"You're so sweet, Remus, I could kiss you!" Vivienne said. Severus saw her arms, as though she were about to encircle the Gryffindor with her arms to do just that, and he even saw Remus move as though he were all too ready to receive said kiss, when Severus simply couldn't take it anymore. Now knowing what he was doing, he angrily shoved his essay into his bag and marched over. Just as Vivienne was raising her arms, Severus grabbed her right wrist and pulled it roughly to him.
Vivienne gasped in surprise, and her petite form lost balance, falling into Severus. Using both his hands, Severus steadied her and pulled her to him. In one fluid movement he held her around the waist with one arm, pressing her to him, while the other gently but firmly grasped the side of her neck, his thumb pressing at the edge of her jaw where it connected to her neck while his fingers threaded through her hair at the nape. His head descended smoothly as he closed his eyes and captured her lips.
The move was epic and legendary and forever marked Severus' swift grace. Though Severus was inexperienced when it came to kissing, he was a quick learner. He had obsessed over her quick kiss so much that he was able to mimic her kiss, molding his lips against hers, though decidedly more dominantly than she she gasped in surprise, he instinctually slipped his tongue inside her mouth. Because this was new to him, he was cautious as he did so and tentatively stroked her tongue. When he heard her whimper, a sound that lit his being on fire, he smirked against her lips and mapped out her mouth carefully and yet possessively.
He guessed he was doing something right as he felt a bit more weight on the arm around her waist and he figured it was because her knees wanted to give out and she was leaning more on him. He was just beginning to really get the hang of it, and didn't want the kiss to end, however the need for air was getting to be too much. Reluctantly, like their first kiss, Severus began pulling away. As he did so, Vivienne seemed to come back to her full senses. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked, breathing slightly heavily as she shoved Severus away. "You can't kiss whoever the hell you want whenever the hell you want!"
Though Severus was taking a little longer than Vivienne to gather his faculties, this made him sneer and raise a brow. "Really? But didn't you kiss me in the Great Hall without my consent, for a stupid dare?"
Vivienne opened and closed her mouth, trying to think of something to say in response as she started blushing. "I'm gonna go. I don't want to be part of your lover spat. Vivienne, next time your having problems with your boyfriend, don't use me to get him back for whatever it is he did, I don't appreciate it," Remus said, looking and speaking to her coolly. Vivienne looked at Remus, opening her mouth to try and say something, but Remus merely turned and walked away while Severus watched with a satisfied smirk.
"What did you do that for?" Vivienne growled, turning to glare at Severus.
"Well I don't particularly enjoy being used either, Vivienne. That kiss you call just a dare... I'm never gonna let it go. Remember this incident," Severus said, motioning to where Lupin had been standing and at themselves, "The next time you plan on kissing another boy that isn't me," Severus finished, as he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving a shocked Vivienne behind.
VI. A Kiss of Promise
Severus didn't stop following Vivienne and torturing her by foiling her plans with any other boy she considered kissing or possibly even dating throughout their sixth year. He knew that it frustrated her to no end and Severus felt slight pleasure from it. There was only one occasion, at the beginning of their seventh year in which he felt a twinge of guilt.
Vivienne, practically reduced to tears, asked him to leave her alone. She was the only girl in the seventh year who hadn't yet had any experience at all dating. Severus wasn't inclined to acquiescing, and shook his head. She glared at him telling him she hated him. He told her she was being a petulant child by telling him that she hated him, because he knew for a fact she enjoyed their kiss. In response, she asked him what the hell he wanted with her.
The truth was, Severus wasn't sure of it himself. He was only aware that her kisses haunted him, and that the mere thought of sharing her kisses with anyone else made his blood boil. However, he didn't reasonably understand why. Really, she was nothing to him and he hardly knew her. Apart from arguing with her and torturing her, he had no relationship with her, so what the hell did he really care what she did or didn't do with her social life?
"Do you-" Vivienne said, but stopped herself. Severus focused his gaze on her face. He could see her sleek and arched brow knitting together in confusion as she studied his face. "Do you want to be with me, Severus?" she asked, tentatively. There was something in her tone he didn't quite like. Though it was merely questioning, he felt to respond would only earn laughter from her at his expense.
Severus crossed his arms over his chest defensively. "Why would I want to do that? I don't know you and from your smiles, I know that your incapable of being sincere." She frowned in response to this and Severus wasn't sure if that jab had injured or angered her.
Vivienne slowly reached out a hand and attempted to place it on his sallow cheek. Severus flinched for a moment, but forced himself to remain still, watching her warily and curiously to see what she was up to now. Her face showed nothing but genuine curiosity, and her big eyes were focused on him, gently observing him. There was a softness to her sparkling, cinnamon eyes that he had never seen before and entranced him to stay still.
Placing her hand on his cheek, he nearly leaned in as he recalled her warmth and the softness of her palm. But her eyes, staring deeply into his kept him grounded. He didn't move and stood still as she timidly and slowly moved her body closer to his, as though she were afraid that any swift movement on her part would startle him away. When she managed to get closer to him, she raised herself up, placing her free hand on his upper chest, by his shoulder.
Severus waited with baited breath as she brought her face closer to his. He closed his eyes as he felt her closing the distance between their lips. He knew she was going to kiss him when she had stepped closer to him, and he found that he desperately wanted it. He stood his ground and waited patiently until her lips finally brushed against his. For a moment, as their lips touched, they merely stood there taking in the familiar and much longed for sensation.
Severus felt a distinct spark when their lips first touched, and he let them linger there for a moment unmoving. Slowly, they moved their lips against one another. Their movements felt in sync. With their mouths closed, they merely savored the feel of the others lips as they moved like waves on a shore together. Time seemed not to move and Severus felt his heart beating out of tempo as a familiar warmth spread throughout him.
It had been so long since their last kiss, and truly, he'd missed it. Reaching out tentatively, he placed his hands on her waist, merely ghosting on the area where it curved to her hips and guiding her body lightly closer to him. She stood there, pressed softly against him, molding into his arms as though she belonged there.
Not wanting this kiss to be possessive like the last, because Vivienne had initiated this kiss slowly as if it were their first, Severus wanted it to be sweet for her. He wanted it to be what she wanted, so that it wouldn't be the last. Tilting his head slightly and moving his lips against hers, he opened his lips to take her plump bottom lip between his, as she did to him on their first kiss. Accidentally, he nipped on her bottom lip, earning a purr from her.
Vivienne then traced her tongue lightly over the seam of his lip before pressing her tongue inside his mouth. Teasingly, she traced her tongue over his as she caressed his cheek. Somehow, this kiss was so unlike all the rest, and not because it was so slow and sweet and almost innocent. To Severus, it tasted of promise and when Vivienne started pulling away, Severus found himself leaning forward, pursuing her lips. He didn't want it to end. Nothing ever good ever seemed to come from when their kisses ended. However, she managed to disengage her lips from his.
Severus stared at her questioningly. When his eyes took in the sight of the pink tint to her cheeks and the way her lips looked bruised, he wanted to lean in and kiss her again. "Did that feel insincere to you? Believe it or not, you were the first boy I kissed, and you've made it your mission to be the only one. Sometimes I hate you, truly. But every time you kiss me it's new, and dizzying, like the first time. My stomach is in knots when you're near, but if you can't see that its because I mask it like I do everything else I feel, with a smile."
"I want to be the only one you kiss, Vivienne. I don't want you to kiss anyone else. I want all your kisses to be for me," Severus said, because he wasn't sure what else to say. It was a lot to take in, what he learned about her in just a few seconds.
"Does that mean you're asking me to be your girlfriend?" Severus didn't know, so he shrugged.
"I suppose so."
VII. The Last Kiss
Severus Snape had an open casket funeral. The decision was probably not of his own choosing, but being dead, he was blissfully unaware of it.
There was a surprising turnout for the funeral of the infamous Potion Master, Head of Slytherin and brief Headmaster. That is not to say that there was a great amount of people, but simply more than anyone would expect. The remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix, some of his Colleagues and not to mention Lucius Malfoy, perhaps the closest thing to a friend.
Of course, in attendance, were also some of his former students, including Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood the remaining Weasley children, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Draco Malfoy. Really, there was a record amount of Gryffindors at a Slytherin's funeral as many of Harry's classmates like Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan had also attended.
As for his own classmates, only one showed up, painful though it was for her. Vivienne Brennan loathed to recall her relationship with Severus Snape, which lasted only their seventh year. Though she no longer reserved feelings of hatred towards Severus, recalling their relationship still caused her pain to this day. Though their relationship was brief and a learning experience, at the time, it had been everything to her.
Severus was her first love. He became the world to her. She wasn't sure how, but she devoted herself to that relationship, heart, body and soul. She gave Severus everything that she was. When she reflected on it, she knew it wasn't the wisest decision. Their relationship, before even being a romantic one, had been so turbulent and it was only common sense that a real relationship with him wouldn't be any better. There were times, that Vivienne thought she had shed tears of blood for Severus.
Though in the beginning it was rather sweet and even loving, it deteriorated rather quickly. Vivienne wasn't sure when exactly it started going down hill, but she supposed all those years they had spent arguing and verbally hurting one another had created hairline fractions between them that became all the greater when they were together and combined with the issues of jealousy and possessiveness they came across and ultimately destroyed their love.
It didn't help matters that the increasingly obvious relationship between James Potter and Lily Evans began to embitter Severus, who took it out on Vivienne as he always had. By the time she and Severus were over and done with, Vivienne truly hated Severus. Hated Severus from the bottom of her soul for causing her to fall in love with him, when all along he had always been and always would be head over heels for Lily Evans.
The months immediately following their seventh year were painful to Vivienne. Everything reminded her of Severus and opened those wounds he left behind. She distracted herself to not think of things and focussed on living her life... it helped ease the pain and forget her hatred towards him. Relationships that came and went, helped her resentment towards him fade. But to this day, she knew that Severus would be the greatest love of her life because she'd never loved anyone else with the same passion, and perhaps that was simply because she wouldn't let herself.
When Vivienne steadily approached his coffin to pay her last respects, she felt tears gathering in her eyes. Though she had cut him out of her life for many years now, it was still hard to believe that he was dead. Standing at last before him, looking down at his face, she felt her heart breaking all over again, and wondered back to their relationship.
"You once told me I was insincere," she whispered as she looked down at him, and single tear trekked down her cheek. "You also told me you loved me and made me believe it with actions. When I look back, even now after all these years, I wonder if any of it was real. I wonder if it was my imagination, or if I misunderstood. I'll never know I guess, but on my part, it was real. When I told you, you were the love of my life, and always would be, I was being sincere."
Having nothing more to say, and wishing to shed no more tears, Vivienne lent forward and placed a last kiss, chaste and quick on cold and unfeeling lips before turning around and marching away.
Throughout his life, Severus was haunted by the memory or three women, each who bestowed kisses on him he never would forget. When Severus said his last words to Harry, he expected seeing green eyes would make him see Lily. When his brain was misfiring, the last thing he saw were cinnamon eyes, a tear streaked cheek, and a grown woman who was no longer a wild-child, leaning in to give him his last kiss.
-Fin-
A/n: That's it. As always, read and review and tell me what you think.