Author's Note; Ah, first story posted after the loss of my old FFnet account... been a couple years since I've been here or written a fanfiction, but hopefully someone out there might enjoy this. This story started out as such a different idea, not sure how it turned out quite like this, but I've been meaning to write something for Lily and Snape for a while now. Oi, and does FFnet no longer allow pluses or anything written in for long separations in a story? Bleh. Supposed to be one to separate the month of time... guess it'll have to do like this. Thanks for reading!

A potion simmered and boiled on the desk, but the usually top student's eyes were not paying the slightest attention to it, fixed instead on the profile of his heart's desire, who was focusing her own attention to the actual task. Severus frowned from his table of Slytherins, his eyes narrowing as he witnessed an obviously affectionate remark exchanged between Lily and Potter. She had told him Potter would never mean anything to her… but of course, she had also told him that they'd be best friends forever. Now it was a month into their seventh year at Hogwarts, and she still refused to so much as utter a "hello" to him, even though they shared most of their classes.

Severus had hoped things could be repaired over the summer, for they always spent their summers together, but if one of her Gryffindor friends wasn't dropping by, all of her time was instead spent with Petunia. The many knocks on her door were ignored, or if by chance one of her parents answered, they'd give an uncomfortable smile and inform him that she was busy. Sure she was.

His attention was returned to the present as Professor Slughorn came by to inspect how everyone was coming along. Severus quickly Vanished his potion, which was mediocre at best from his lack of attention, and merely accepted his detention with a shrug when he failed to explain what the problem was and why he wasn't doing it. He leaned back in his chair, a few of his friends sniggering as Slughorn walked away, eyes trailing back to Lily.

It was just her, Potter, and Black at the table, which left a seat vacant… what he wouldn't give just for one day sitting with her again… for her to look at him the way she looked at Potter… for one last hug… yes, he'd give anything in the world for just one more day with her…. His eyes returned to his empty cauldron, scowling once more to himself.

And then it hit him, in a wave of disgust, but ultimate possibility.

Nearly a month had passed since the Potions lesson in which he had plotted how to spend time with Lily once more, but he had to admit, he wasn't quite sure how he could possibly pull it off. He'd had the potion preparing, and it was almost ready, but to execute what he wanted… he'd have to pretend to be the one person he hated more than any other. And how was he possibly supposed to pass off as Potter? How could he pretend to be that conceited and repulsive of a person?

But Lily… somehow she saw something in him. Somehow, in the past month, she'd even started to date him. Him! With his cocky strut, his foolishness, his… everything! It was vile, hideous, and Severus' hands shook slightly just at the thought. Surely, somehow, she would come to her senses… she would realize how preposterous it was that she was with him, when there was someone out there who could love her more than Potter ever would. He blasted a fly out of the air with the Killing Curse, imagining it to be Potter. A few boys in the dormitory with him yelped as they were awoken by the flash of green light, but soon grumbled, shrugging it off, and went back to sleep.

True, he'd been watching them even more carefully lately, trying to pick up on Potter's traits to help him in the upcoming sham, and he pretended to be civil around Lily… but couldn't she see how fake Potter was, how perfect she would be with him, with Severus? Hadn't he always been there for her, since they were eleven years old…?

He shut his eyes tightly, nails digging into his palms as the hideous thoughts of Lily being with Potter flashed rapidly through his mind. But at least… at least soon… that affection would be directed towards him, even if she didn't know it. Maybe, just maybe, he could even reveal the truth to her, and she would realize… she would realize how crazy it was to not have picked him all along.

He rolled over in his bed fitfully, the hours very late in the night, but well aware that the following morning he could actually speak to Lily once more, and that made it quite difficult for him to sleep. He tried to force it upon himself, closing his eyes and desperately attempting to empty his mind, but for once it was coming much less naturally to him.

The following morning he awoke as soon as the sun broke in to announce the new day, and though he'd barely slept at all, he had never felt more full of energy. Nervous energy, but powerful energy nonetheless. He dressed quickly and burst out of the dorm in a flash, dashing up seven flights of stairs to the bizarre room that he'd discovered in his search for a place to create the potion.

He'd easily enough gotten a few hairs from James in one of their many fights, and he added them to the potion and watched as it turned a bright red. Waving his wand, he transferred the potion into a flask, which he stored in his robes… he'd need to find Potter before he could drink it. That'd be a slight problem if two were spotted roaming about the castle.

He made his way back down to the Great Hall for breakfast, settling himself in at the table for what he suspected to be a long wait, as he was one of the first down there. To his pleasure, though, after about ten minutes Potter arrived, flanked with his usual group of friends. The two exchanged dark glares as Potter's eyes found his own seated amongst the Slytherins, but Severus wore a cold smirk, knowing that soon he'd be using Potter to his ultimate advantage.

Severus drummed his fingers impatiently on the table as he craned his neck to keep his eyes on the back of Potter's head, waiting for him to rise and leave… hopefully without his friends. It was a Sunday, so they probably intended to be together for most of the day, but surely there'd be a way to catch him out on his own.

Sure enough, the group of the four boys rose together to leave, but Severus chose to follow them anyway as they headed out towards the grounds. Before they reached the doors, though, Potter said something to them and diverted towards a bathroom, and luckily his friends kept heading outside. Thrilled, Severus made to follow suit.

The second Severus stepped through the doors, Potter glanced up and with a quick reflex cast a spell at him to blast him back against the door. Gritting his teeth, Severus shot a Stunning spell at him, and laughed softly as he moved towards the body.

"Not today, Potter…." Each bore looks full of hate as they glared into each others' eyes, and Severus, with fury built up even more than usual towards him on the particular today, cried out, "Crucio!"The body twitched, but remained Stunned and unable to cry out, though the eyes showed the agony he was feeling inside. Satisfied, Severus released him from the pain. "Obliviate," he muttered softly, so that Potter wouldn't remember what had happened, and Severus locked him up in one of the stalls, as he downed the entire potion and overtook Potter's appearance.

He fell to his knees during the not particularly pleasant transformation, but grinned maliciously as he stood once more, examining himself in the mirror. The robes weren't a horrible fit… but Potter always had the best of the best, so with another scowl, he changed into Potter's own. He took the glasses from Potter's nose, and turned to stare at himself once more, and had to resist the urge to jinx himself. He was James Potter… or at least, as close as he would ever come to being something so horrible.

He stepped back out through the door, and found himself face to face in barely three paces with Black. It took a quick remembrance to switch the look of hatred off of his face, and to not address him as "Black." Black's eyes studied him curiously for a moment, possibly catching the expression, or possibly just knowing his best friend too well. Whichever the case, he shrugged after a moment and gave Severus a grin that certainly never adorned his face when he was himself.

"We were starting to wonder what had happened to you, Prongs… taking so long, we thought maybe you'd run into Lily in there."

Severus forced a laugh, though for a moment he thought he caught a sour expression on Black's face as well. Grudgingly Severus fell into step beside his "best friend," desiring nothing more than to hex him into oblivion.

"So,didLily come out while I was in there?" Severus asked in as casual of a voice he could manage, though excitement pounding inside him, and desperately wanting to get away from Black. Black pulled another odd face, but then shrugged in that elegant way he always seemed to pull off.

"Yeah, she was chatting with Moony when I came off to find you." He didn't elaborate, but Severus' pace increased a bit, pushing through the front doors, aching to see her face. Suspecting that they were down by the lake as usual, Severus had to force himself to not run in the direction. After a minute, he caught sight of her hair from behind, and his steps faltered. What if she could tell instantly, and wouldn't give him a chance? Black raised his eyebrows slightly at Severus, pausing when he did, to which Severus flushed slightly and set back off, ignoring his two supposed other best friends to instantly be beside the girl he'd admired for so long.

"Hey, Lily…."

Lily seemed to disregard the odd, hesitating tone that spoke from Potter's voice, and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, which set Severus into a deep blush. "Hey, James!" Severus opened his mouth as if to correct her, but stopped himself. Still not even glancing at Potter's friends, he lowered his voice and leaned in towards Lily's ear.

"Can we go talk in… private?"

Lily tilted her head slightly, her gorgeous green eyes staring into his own, and then smiled with a nod. She laced her hand in his own, to his further delight, though still embarrassment, and he led her off in a vague direction, none too sure where he was heading.

After a while of walking around the lake, he halted, and suddenly, with a rush of humiliation, realized they were under the tree where that horrible scene had happened… the one that had forced him to be in this body to be allowed to talk to her instead of his own. Apparently she was thinking along the same lines, because her eyes seemed fixed on the spot where Severus was once suspended in the air.

"I miss him, sometimes, you know." Her eyes glared into his, as if daring him to make a smartass response to what she said. But instead, he did the thing that was probably the most unlike James Potter to do to a semi-positive remark about Severus. He leaned in and kissed her, softly at first, but despite the confused look she gave him, she didn't pull back, and suddenly it was more intense, and his hands were running through her hair….

They were lying in the grass together, and Severus was looking into her eyes, those beautiful, almond-shaped, green eyes. And they were looking back at him, in what could only be described as love, and suddenly it occurred to him what he had done. That she was truly only looking at him because of who she thought he was. He couldn't dare speak the truth. But for one last moment, he could pretend it was meant him, not Potter. She wanted to love him, never Potter. He could've spent the rest of his life there, just staring into those eyes, but he pushed himself back up, and silently set off towards the castle.

He pressed his fingers against his lips that weren't really his lips, everything that had just happened a haze, and suddenly it didn't matter who he was, because tears were streaming from the eyes that made no difference if they were hazel or black. On his one last day with Lily Evans, he may have gotten more than he could have ever wished, but all that he had proven was that she was in love with James Potter.